The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-05-12 00:00:00

THEATRE-ROYAL, LIVERPOOL.

The Public is respectfully informed that Maclaine VESTIVg
having been
.prevented by indisposition from completing
number of nights of her engagement, an arrangement hi,*
been made with her to perform this Evening, To-morrow,
Thursday, and Friday.
/11111 IS present TUESDAY, the 12th instant, will be Per-
formed, for the eleventh time, the new Comedy of
RURAL FELICITY.
After which the favourite Mus*fal Farce of
WHY DON'T' SHE ARRY ?
cte
Lisette Gierstein....(with son Madame Veitris. •
To conclude with th ew Drama of
THE BEULAH SPA.
Caroline. Grantley (with assumed chafacters) Madame Veitrig.
TO-MORROW, for' the twelfth time the new Coined! 0,1,
RURAL FELICITY.—After which, for the third time, the
new Drama of the COURT BEAUTIES. Tiffany, Madams
Vestris. King .Charles, Mr. Hooper.—To conclude with the
WELSH GIRL. Julia, Madame N'estri‘; , •
On 'Wednesday, Thursday. and Friday, the Race nights,al°
the
Nerfortilauees will not commence until eight 'o'clock.
ed°estiis on each night will perform twO 'popular characters:

Lower Boxes 45.; Upper Boxes Is. 6d ; ail N.: 6d.; Gallery Is;
Places may betaken of Mr. Parker, at. the Box-oflice, from
Ten till Three o'clock. No Places can be secured 111118•4
Tickets are taken.

Eiberpool f.,tantiartt.

TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 12, 1835•

We have been favoured, by an eminent mercantile
house in this town, with a fife of the Canton Register'
and the Canton General Price Current up to the begin' ,
nine' of:January.. The latest of these papers contain*
at full length the petition to the King of the British sub'
jects resident at Canton, in which they explain the
grievances to which they are exposed anti the indignities
they are compelled to endare without any means of ob-
taining redress.
, The names attached to this petition are a warrant for
the authenticity of the facts stated, While the strong but
respectful language of the petition shows how keenly
the merchants and other residents feel on the subject.
Titedetails.dnany thing but reflect.credit on the govern-
meat at -home. They have, indeed, destroyed the n3c'
nopoly of the East India Company, but they haire made
no,adecinate efforts to procure fur the residents that re-
spectful treatment and that protection to which they are
entitled. We are unable to make room for the whole er
the petition, which is an extremely interesting document
well dra.wu up,. but we give the beads of it as we Oa
them in the margin :
"The extraordinary 'state of our r4;latiops with the Miner
induces us to petition your Majesty.
" Your 'Majesty's superintendents are-prohibited by the Cbti
nese from exercising. their functions ; and are not einpowere
by your Majesty to appeal to Peking.
" The whole history of intercourse with China proves that tb•
most. unsafe of all courses in treating with its government i
that subniission to contempt or wrongs.
" if Lord. Napier had been furnished.with force and autho;
city to resent insult, we arc. confident, without a shadow c"
doubt, that his mission would have succeeded.
" We pray your Majesty to grant powers
officerplenipotentiaritte„
an of diplomatic experience to proceed to China in a ,gip
of the line, with two frigates, sloops, and a steamer; to ITV.°
reparation for insults and wrongs to Lord Napier, terminat+ng
in that nobleman's death; for firing on your Majesty's ships,
and for offensive edicts representing your Majesty as a " reve-
rently submissive" tributary, and your subjects as profligate
barlArians; also remuneration for losses arising from stoppage
of trade: thereafter to*Propose mutually beneficial arrangerneatai
in agreeing to which we do not anticipate difficulty, nor risk Of
interrxption to the Canton trade, as the force recommended
enable the plenipotentiary to secure indemnity 1°
wrongs, by repiisals on the Chinese trade, and by interceptiri_g
the imperial revenues in transitu ; should such measures be t;
cessary; which we anxiously wish to avoid.
" Re-admission to the -ports formerly open, Amoy, B'C''
would be beneficial in reviving. competition.
" On all points of cbrnmercial grievance, it will be desir"/.'":1:
that the plenipotentiary apply for information to the Brit°
merchants at Canton.
," To acquiescence in the supremacy claimed by the Chioes,a
over other nations we trace existing disabilities ; nor while .
continues do we think relief attainable.
" We pray that your Majesty will not make any conceseio._ o
on this point, preferring, as we do, that your Majesty, rather
Dot
than acknowledge Chinese supremacy, should leave us to Cu
own resources.
" We pray that nwpersons who have been engaged here
trade, 'or who have submitted to' indignities him the Chlati,
be employed to- negotiate; that only functionaries accre(l7
from Peking be negociated with, not those of Canton, and ti"'
no British commissioner shall land till assured of a becorottg
reception."
The petition tition is 'signed -by-upwards of eighty gentle"
. men of the highest respectability.
.

By the Spitfire packet ,we have received papers fry
Jamaica to the 31st March. Their contents are unfavoer"
able even beyond our fears. The colonists are beginning
to be convinced,,against their hopes, that the cultivation
of sugar to anything like the quantity formerly cultivated
and manufactured' is utterly impracticable under the pro"
visions of the abolition bill as at present administered.
Some of tbe.finest estates in, the island are fast going t°
ruin—the canes are rotting, in the ground—the apprea "
tices refuse to work at extra hours.on any terms--thei
cannot now be compelled to work—and theconsequeneee
are melancholy, and deplorable—melancholy as concert°
the negro himself, and deplorable as regards the unfortn'
nate planter. •
There are two evils in operation, both of which We
had their-rise in the new system.. In the first place there
is no Cordiality between the governor and his stipend's-
ries on the one hand, .and the proprietors and planter*
on the other.. In the sec oud. place fnany of the tie'
which bottnd the slave to.his. master are broken np--the
one has ,no command, the -other no affection, no eonfi-
deuce,. no gratitude. The negro fancies himielf a net(
being since the passing of the abolition bill. The We"
of• working at all, except from compulsion, never ente-I:*
and never
,will enter his mind. It is not compuleori la-
bour alone which constitutes slavery according, to his
ideas, it is labour. per se' which he considers slavery'
Freedom he• conceives to be a' release from labour.'
Against this inborn principle of African ignorance the'
West India planter has to contend, and we fear vii°
contend in vain, -or at least longer without success then
his declining resources will permit. -
•tit
in
The following, from the Jamaica Des-patch of the 0—
-March, will be read with painful interest
• STATE OF TIIE ISLAND.
his evidently the object of those who wish to bolster up 601
present state of the island, to persuade the rumple of Erne° aa.
that the new system teorleteetl ;" and to prevent 111_°'a
why are deeply interested in the future
_prosperity of the hello,
from knowing anything of our actual situation, until it can
no lon,Terconcealed. We say the eyStetti-will not work;. so,
though we admit that no act* of positiwyiolence have we,/
place, yet we know that thOusands, and ten thousand actset
passive resistance daily occur on the part of the negro, mil,.
well-ui ganised plans of tuition ; and the loss of labour from tuyf
system is, even now, most rui onus to the planter. The h0u,,,`,,,
labour are limited by law; aintas long as the negroes are 111,';?
field, and apparently tem-Jassy, where is the ground for comp");,a
The stipendiary magistrates in too many cases are utiacqua'n
with the nature and quantum of labour required ; nor cur st
pa
expected that gentlemen from otherwalksof life can understa.,4
this by intuition; though we mention with pleasure, that nit',
':of our stipendiaries have eeinced-a strong desire to make th 1;1,
,selves actinainted.with the character, of9nr peasantry ; and Ito
'wherrive'r tills the ease, 'success to a certain extent
ore
invariably 'attended their efforts; but their desire to prts°,44
industry has in too many instances been thWarted by son. -we
traordinary orders from theeitecutive. or by the conduct of oleo
of their brethren, who sieve' formerly agents of the Anti-Slanho
Society,` and who now consider themselves bound to supporle
doctrines of their former patrons. . We are tde,
cursed with the presence of other agitators of phis descriptwo,
who hare no more regard for the interests of the negroestres:v
or to come, than they have for the. savagg* of Africa ! et,
Ili.
happily these very men arc the PET magistrates of the Mslll
of Sligo! • of
We have been confirmed i iea n these opiiss consequene
information which we received yesterday from a gentleman f. r:1
St. James's, who declares the whole of that parish to be 1.do
state of " passive: rebellion," and to. show this we cantombis
better than give, his opinion
.of the state of that palish iu
own words.
the nle'hgeroepasr!vsililionf?Ji'vejrakieas's
ndisthinisal state
ee
respectability, and. a proprietor in that unhappy parish twil tba.
tailed his own case-in the following manner : I anli'
proprietor
.alluded to, ' in a state almost bordering 00 "iva.
I have one hundred mid sixty-four acres of cane in full eutt.d
offropmasasivgeenytelbeineisliV
tiosi; the apprentices will nut work for me in the- period
by law, nor will they work for hire! I am obliged, tberetvolo
to see one-third of my crop 'sacrificed before my eyes, .
td he
stipendiary. mti#istrate, Mr. Norcott, will not do his (ItitY.,,,
has been here,- it is true, three times since the Ist of 1"4-kbe
and every visit has produced to me moreand more misery...,.out
consequences now are, that I must endeavour to do % berg
him, be they what they may, for we have trouble enoug,tt
our
Without increasing it by the conduct of the stipendiary.. 'tcas
informant added—' The general opinion In St. James
half a million would not replace the damage done to St. Jaen
,441
by Mr. Hilt and Mr. Norcoterconduct, independent of the ! la
example which their inabadroinistration of the law coneel4_.
other parishes!'"
If there is a district in the Wan& where prompt justice i.. 1-
cessary, it is its St. James, the. hot-bed of religion, wh Poo
lur
perty to the amount of two, millions' worth was sacrificed b„4
very negroes, who are almost countenanced iu their retie
behaviour now by those sent from England to coerce them to
pertormance of their duty. We ere new no advocates for
neeelsary punishment, or undue severity towards master 74.
prentice ;• ha-when' the master is frequentlymade the 417,,,
slant when he comes forward as a complainant, what ca
thought of such special justice? While Dr. Palmer's 317;isr
in Port Royal 14 patronised by the eseettitive, and Ms. 174!itow
is upheld at the other end of, the contrary,to the
every well-thinking man, it would be uncaudid not te.diclt
not only our eitu opinion, but that- of others. While such al
tent is tolerated the cult'ivatiuu of the island, as far as slug;
concerned, concerned, must tirininate long before the expiration oi
period of apprenticeehip; and those who withhold the".,tQf
from the 'British public are no friends to this or any put"—^

NI A V 1')

the empire. We are most atrxiana fere-tire -future prosperity of
Jamaica; and being persuaded that in withholding the informa-
tion which we possess we might aid in hastening its destruction,
we therefore fearlessly come forward and place the evils by which
we are surrounded in one view before our fellow-subjects" in the
mother country; and if they will our utter ruin we must submit
to our fateotnalleave the rest to Divine Providence.

Our files from Demerara are to the 28th March. The
• complaints of, idleness and insuliordination are as loud
in that colony as in. Jamaica .The Gutana Chronicle of
the 25th March says : • •
With all the aid which a judicious administration of the laws
in the hands of an efficient magistrate, can produce to maintain
peace and good order, the state of the negroes on the La Peni-
tence estate does not materially improve. There, punishment
succeedS punishment, accompanied with• all the rigour which
the law allows; and yet the obitinate spirit of these, misguided
people remains unconquered, and but little (if at all) amended.
We believe that, at thiS moment, there is scarcely one effec-
tive: negrnwoman on this estate who is not Undergoing sonic
species. .of punishinent, to which she. has been condemned for
her misconduct, and, consequently, that all the labour is'per;
formed by the Men gang;:but even among these, who have
lately been behaving tolerably well, the evil. examples of the
women have produced the baneful effects to he naturally ex-
pected, as we were yesterday informed that upwards of twenty
had absconded from the estate.- •
*To attempt to calculate the loss which the proprietor of this
estate is sustaining, is impossible; it must, however, be enor-
mous. This; however, thonikmiost" distressing to contemplate,
is a matter at individual consideration ; yet it ought to be re-'
membered that the fate of "One may be the fate of all; and we
feel assured that, unless the insurrectionary spirit of the La
Penitence negroes be speedily quelled; it cannot fail to spread,'
and cause the negroes of other estates to follOw the seine mis-
guided course. We. haneiipolzemof this. before; but the topic
is one of such moment, that me nifty well stand excused in once
lucre urging it upon the public notice and the attention of the
executive. that can bettlone,iiya[magistcate, witlithe fet-
WeiPpoi-eriVonferreil by'the ordinance, weknow will be at-
t•mpted by Mr. Kellock, Should he, hiiweier, fail, it becomes
incumbent upon the executive, for•the wOlfare and safety of the
.colony committed to charge,: immediately to arm him with
additional authority which shall be sufficiently effective to en-
--,force good order and industry, and to subdue the evil spirit.
which now defies the present power of the magistrates.
"series f harassing.ipuins,hments, unrocnittingly
for a space of Weeks; and perhaps niay, no doubt,
ultimately conquer the obstiinicy;of tbete'people, with even the
-limited powers now held by the.M.agistrates... .This is not politic,
however; it is not justice to the interests o 7 the colOny at large.
Such outrages as are daily offered' to the laws by the La Pe-
pnople,, ahould .hcf represW,as they. , arise.
The cure of the evil should not be lingering and protracled, but
summary and effective; and every day, every hour that is
,allowed te elapse with a 40atinaaace of such a state of thiogs,
but increases the hazard of the baneful' Spirit extending, and
diminishes the hopes of peace and prosperity to.the oultiny.

Affairs continue to 'be in a very agitated, unsettled

and unsatisfactory state in :Lower Canada. We have
just received a copy of the petition to the king'from the

British settlers, which we shall endeavour to make room
foton Friday, but the nature.of which will be gathered
from.the following extract of a. letter from a gentleman
resident in Quebec to a friend here. The letter is' dated
the 2d April :-- •

" I enclose a printed copy of our address to the king'for yoar
information, and am sure you 'will feel interested for your
fellow countrymen here, Who are .non living under the tyrant:97
of a Preneh majority in the assembly. While your friends in
the West Indies are suffering under the arbitrary acts of the
governors, we are suffering under those of the popular branch.
The fact is,• thOngh the country has bein subdued by British
arms, it has been virtually surrendered to the people so sub-
dued, by the free constitution which hai been granted to it—;-the
representatives using it, not as men composing part of the
great British family, but like enetnies to it, taking it up as arms
in their hands td annoy the donors."

in the New York Commercial Advertiser of the 13th
ult., 'we find the following remarks relative to a' BritiSh
colony
" Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land, Sept. 26, 1831.—You
may rest assured, that the people here, like those of all colonies,
hu/d their dependence upon Britain only so long as they are un-
ubte to do witheni.it....'l'he very moment they find themselves in
a situation to become independent, that will be the moment of
their becoming so: 'Republican:institutions are so congenial to
the' habits' and associations'of mind of every new people, that,
.of course. such will be the basis of whatever governinent they
join; and they-will turn toWards.:the freest country on the face of
the earth—tire gloriOus United America-as of Americaos the nation
,with which to form the closest alliance. At this moment, American
.ships are most welcome here; end . I am ,couvinced that a coin-
' inercial intercourse, most advantageous to both people, might be,
and would be established, notwithstanding the distance, if the
situation of theie colonies" Waii.generally known. Perhaps it
may he best understood when I _give you one appalling fact.
Van Diemen's•Land is now, and must be ever from its very
nature, dependent for.foo'd. from Without'. It cannot produce
enough for the maintenance of its present scanty population,
(30,000 new, women,' and -ebildren;)—how Much less able will
itsbe to &ciao as that 'pbpulation increases. = 'Wheat cannot be
grown here for less than six sbillings.• sterling money the
of sixty pounda-ineeight; flour, stiout Xi the kezt4set
poundsireight. This katherinimum. The price is seldom s'n
low. Atpresent, wheraLis shillings
.tipp. bushel; flour,
forty shillings the hundred. ' ion may now judge • Iwwfar this
-.Market would suit Ame.rican ships lobring flour. The price may
always be reckoned upon with certainty as above the minimum.
In return, there is wool of the' finest quality,, which never
vouches more than'lsd. per lb. beie—the'averirge price may be
taken tit ' - •
We agree with this writer that republican ipstitutions
are most 'congenial to! the • habits of a " new people,"
that is to say, a people in the 'first stage of. civilization.
.That there are, in the characteristics which distinguish
the, people in .cktir• Penal-, gettletheufs of New South
Waleslmarly points in .common with, ..and in close
analogy to, those which belong to the, inhabitants of the
-United States, we are willing' to adroit. A large portion
of the• latter people have had a:similar origin ; compul-
sory emigration having done for the fathers and mothers
•of -our colonists beyond. the Cape what it did, for the
ancestors of these who call themselves the free citizens of
the.'' glorious United States of America." There are
at present in New South Wales, as there were in Arne-
.4ica an hundred years ago,- many families of pure blood
and untainted reputation ; but it would be absurd' to
deny. that bah settlements. had their commencement
in the tradsportation 'of felting. - The cruel' code under
which clever persons who
.had Wien certain liberties on
the -streets by. day,' or had, 'through mistake, entered
their rreighbonts' house, shop, or, warehouse by night,
earrying,..aivay' from .the said places property which un-
fortunately did not belong•to them, and 'which ienbrstnt
eildiwonten at the Old Bailey absurdly supposed they had
etolin; or bad an intention to ateal,—this cruel code and
these ungenerous prejudice% -led to the formation of the
•Coltinies in question: Modern patriot% it' is true,. have
dcne . much -to wipe away-.some" of the ignomtay-Which
false sentiment, and national bigotry; have attached to
conclbet in itself perfeetly innocent, and 'which. was
nothing more than the.' effervescence 'of public spirit,
buoyant with, primitive nobleness, ,bursting the bonds of
141avisli dependence, .breaking.,the- shackles of intolerant
law, and,.eitablishing the'und4bted prerogatives of pure
liberty.
Our foolish ancestors werethe unworthy instruments
p6rtentemt 'dispensations: without' being ,::_conscious
,of it. • They imagined they:Were—punishing thieves.
They supposed that they were .founding colonial gaols
77-carrying crime to the extremities of the, empire--
. locating the convict in a settleinent, the bolts, tars, and
manacles of -Which would hold him in restraint, whereas;
on the contrary,-they• were, as time has shown, only sow-

ing the seed of freedom, laying the: corner-stones of so
many "glorious" repUblics--making• Nevvgate the cra-
dling place of heroes—the bulks the college of philoso-
‘. .iihers-÷the convict-ship the passport to fame—the brand
the,mark of hononr—the sentence of the judge an intro-
dnetory letter t 6 the gOddeis
The schoolmaster laughs at our former ignorance and
hemay-1 How many RUSSELL did we
not deport to- the ted States,in,former times, for no
other apparent (Aimee than that of 'having at the door of
'a- theatre; °yin a crowded street, thrdst their hands into
Pockets which, being invitingly. open, they
,generously
Undertook to protect! Good men were, in the slang. of
the day; called thieves simply because' they protected the ,
Public by taking .valuable articles in order to prevent
'hem from falling into the hands of unprincipled and
rapacious men, In later times, to the credit of the coun- '
try be it said, we have seen men rise to be aldermen of
London who have, on principles of philanthropy and
generosity, most kindly 'interfered in order to restore
stolen property- to its lawful owner.. That we consider a

redeeming point. It brushes away Inads of our national
ains. teaches this important moral lesson--that cor-
- ,r.,npt though the times beoie have civic functionaries
who have nothing so much at heart as the gaud of their
• co.linArY
The American who. Wrilgs in ,the Yew York paper,
Whose letter we have in part quoted, proves himself to be
a philanthropist of this rare-and invaluable breed—a man
Whoni we are bound to honour.- He is moreover a re-

Publican of the finet water... He shows that lie.bwi read
bistoiy, and that 1i undefstands the character of hi,