The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-06-20 00:00:00

HOUSE OF LORDS.-FRIDAY.

Lord FITZHARDINGE presented two petitions, one from
Mr. Webster, the lessee of the Haymarket Theatre, and
the other from the performers at the Lyceum, complain-
ing of the patronage bestowed upon foreign theatrical
entertainments.
Lord BEAUMONT, Lord BROUGHAM, the Duke of
CLEVELAND, and Lord SPENCER were unanimous in
condemning the illiberal spirit in which the petitions
were conceived.
Lord STANLEY then called the attention of the house to
the present state of the laws regulating the importation of
foreign corn. He did not mean to renew the discussion
as to the policy of giving protection to the agricultural
interest; but it must be recollected that we had at the
present time a duty on corn which had neither increased
the price on food nor aggravated discontent. The noble
lord then went into the statistics of the corn trade, and
put it to the government, whether it would not be in ac-
cordance with sound policy, and with their own sense of
public duty, not that a permanent alteration of the law
should now take place on so important a question as this
but that a short bill should be introduced for the pur-
pose of continuing the existing duties as they now stood
for a period of five or six months, so as to enable parlia-

went, on reassembling next year, to determine with suffi-
cient experience whether the inconvenience of the impo-
sition of a duty to a trifling extent would not be more than
counterbalanced by the financial advantage of receiving
three-quarters of a million of money.
Earl GREY, after expressing his satisfaction that Lord
Stanley should advocate a duty on corn not for protection,
but for the purposes of revenue, proceeded to deprecate
any disturb ,n eof the settlement which had been come to
after so much agitation in 1846.
The Duke of RICHMOND said, that the exchequer was
not in such a flourishing state, that it could afford to
throw away £500,000 a year. The noble duke concluded
by stigmatizing the way in which the present Corn Law
had been carried as scandalous. The House of Lords had
lowered itself by its conduct in 1846 in the estimation of
the great body of the people of England ; and if the house
did not mind what it was about it never would regain the
confidence of the people.
The conversation then dropped.

HOUSE OF COMMONS—FRIDAY.
Mr. STAFFORD moved for a new writ for the borough
of Derby, but on a division, the motion was negatived by
a majority of 86 to 36.
Lord J. RUSSLELL then entered upon his statement as
to the intentions of the government in reference to the
distressed state of our West India colonies. He insisted
that the emancipation act of 1834 was eminently success-
ful in its object—that of liberating upwards of 18,000 per-
sons, and raising up a class of happy and independent
labourers. The acts of 1845 and 1816 were equally suc-
cessful as regarded the objects in contemplation those of
obtaining a large supply of sugar to the consumers of this
country, at a lower rate of charge, and an increased
revenue, by means of an increased consumption. It could
not be denied, nevertheless, that however successful might
have been those acts in the objects they had more imme-
diately in view they had been attended with some serious
disadvantages to the colonists. In order to enable the
latter to bear up against these disadvantages the the noble
lord stated that the government proposed to make ad-
vances on the security of the colonial revenues, or to guar-
antee loans, for the purpose of giving bounties for the
encouragement of emigration to the West Indies—such ad-
vances and guarantees not to exceed five hundred thousand
pounds, in addition to the sums already advanced by
the house for the same purpose. With respect to
contracts of service, squatting, &c., the Colonial Sec-
retary would agree to any reasonable, practicable re-
medy which might be suggested by the colonial legisla-
tures. In reference to the act of 1846 he said he
did not think it would be fair to the British consumer
to keep up the differential duty of 10s. It was, therefore,
intended to propose that after the sth of July next the
duty on colonial sugars should be reduced to 135., and be
further reduced Is. per year until it fell to 10s., at which
sum it should become fixed. It was also intended to
propose that the duty on ordinary foreign Muscovado
sugar should remain according to the act of 1846, but
that a new distinctive duty should be framed with respect
to clayed sugar, and sugars equal thereto. Thus, for the
year from July 1848 to July 1849, the duty should be 205.,
and be reduced at the rate of Is. 6d. per year until it came
down to 10s., at which sum it should become fixed. The
Government had also come to the conclusion that in the
case of rum the justice of the case would be met by a duty
of 7s. 4d. ; but he believed it would be necessary to with-
draw the permission for the use of sugar in breweries,
though not so in distilleries. The noble lord concluded
by intimating that on Monday he would bring forward a
formal motion on the subject in a committee of the whole
house.

Sir R. INGLIS said it he had not had the evidence of
his ears he could not have believed that the noble lord in
dealing with this subject should have kept so entirely out
of view the encouragement which would be given to
slavery by the admission, under such a system, of slave-
grown produce for home consumption. The real question
was, not whether the people of this country should have
cheap sugar, but whether they should have sugar stained
with the blood of thousands.
Lord G. RENTINCK said that the noble lord's plan would
be read with despair and dismay by the West India colo-
nists, and with regret by those who had marked the pro-
gress made of late years by the slave trade. Ruin was not
to be averted from our sugar-producing colonies by such
measures. They were not to be saved by a differential
duty of 7s. on first-class, and ss. on second-class sugars ;
and lending X 500,000 to a ruined trade was a mere mockery
when that trade could not be continued without loss. He
hoped the colonists would not infer that the proposition
of the Minister was the edict of the British House of
Commons, or consonant to the feelings of the British
empire. The noble lord, before concluding, complained
of the withholding of dispatchesby the Colonial Office, from
the sugar and coffee committee, and this brought up.
Mr. HAWES, who said the Colonial Office had withheld
no documents with the intention of influencing the report
of the committee.
Mr. DISRAELI contended, at some length, that England
had broken all her contracts with th.eWest Indian colonists;
and now the Government were bringing forward a propo-
sition which would inevitably terminate in bttter disap •
pointment.
After a protracted debate the motion was agreed to.
On the question of going into committee on the Navi-
gation Laws the house dieided, when the motion was car..
sled by a majority of 87, the numbers being 119 to 32.
The house having gone into committee, Mr. J STUART
objected to proceeding on account of the lateness of the
hour, and moved that the Chrirman report progress, upon
which question, after a scene in which Mr. HUDSON took
the principal part, the committee divided ayes, 48 ; noes,
144 ; majority, 96.
At length, without progress, the chairman reported and
the house resumed.
Lord Join: RUSSELL posponed his notice for bringing
in a bill to repeal the assessed taxes clause of the Reform
Bill until Friday.

FOREIGN AND COLONIAL.

FRANCE.

OUTBREAK IN .
An immense crowd was attracted outside the hall of
the Assembly on Monday night, under the idea of seeing
Prince Louis Napoleon pass to take his seat. It was with
some difficulty that the troops could preserve a passage
for the deputies, and no one was permitted to approach
the hall without a ticket.

At three o'clock the rappel was beat, and the National
Guard turned at once. Various reports were in circula-
tion, but all agreed that the Bonapartists had attempted
an insurrection. According to one report there had been

1 fighting in he Foubourg St. Antoine. According to an-
other, the inhabitants of the Baulieu were preparing to
march upon Paris to force the Assembly to accept Prince
Louis Napoleon. In the meantime the crowd in the
Place de la Concorde having raised the cry of "Vive Louis
Napoleon ! Vive l'Empereur!" the general in command
ordered the National Guard and the troops to clear the
place. The crowd resisted, and some pistol shots were
fired, by which one of the officers of the cavalry was
wounded. Order was shortly afterwards restored. The
Boulevards were lined by the National Guards, who were
also in possession of the Place de la Concorde. The Pont
de la Concorde, and all the adjoining quays and streets,
were occupied by large bodies of troops. The gardens of
the Tuileries were closed, and were occupied by a strong
military force. There is great credit due to the National
Guard for their coolness and self restraint, as the shot had
taken effect upon one of their own officers, Captain Fa-
brege of the Ist Legion. The ball passed through his hand,
shattering one of his fingers, which has been amputated.
Captain Fabrege was close to General Clement Thomas at
the time, and it was at General Thomas the shot was pro-
bably aimed, as he was fired at three times afterwards in
the course of the evening. General Clement Thomas
immediately ordered the National Guard to charge, and
the Place de la Concorde was at once cleared. There was
no further attempt at continuing or creating any emeute
in the neighbourhood of the Chambers ; but in the suburbs
several persons were arrested crying " Vice l'Empereur."
In the Assembly, M. Lamartine had just concluded
the first part of his defence of the general conduct of the
Executive Committee (which was listened to with great
coolness), and was sitting on the steps of the tribune to
rest himself before continuing his defence, when General
Clement Thomas suddenly entered and addressed a few
words to M. Lamartine, who immediately rushed to the
tribune in a state of great agitation. The members re-
sumed their places, the President rang his bell, and amidst
the most profound silence, M. Lamartine spoke as follows:
—" Citizen representatives, a fatal circumstance has hap-
pened while we have been engaged in discussion. During
the time I have been speaking, a shot has been fired at a
National Guard, another at the Commander of the Na-
tional Guard, a third at an officer of the army, and these
shots have been fired to the cry .of Vive l'Emnereur
Napoleon.'—(Profound sensation.) This is the first drop
of blood that has been shed since the.24th February, and
I am happy to say this blood has not been shed in the
name of liberty, but in the name of the fanaticism of re-
collections of military glory. It was not the fault of the
government that this misfortune has happened. This
morning we unanimously agreed to and signed the present
decree, which circumstances now oblige me to communi-
cate to you at this very instant." M. Lamartine then ,
proposed the decree of exclusion against Louis Napoleon,
which was carried by acclamation, notwithstanding the
protestation of M. Napoleon Bonaparte, and M. Larrabit,
who, while they professed their attachment to the re-
public accused the executive of taking advantage of the
indignation naturally produced by the commission of an
odious crime to carry a law of proscription against an
individual. M. Pierre Bonaparte, after denouncing in
energetic terms those wretched persons who had been
guilty of shedding blood while crying " Vive l'Empereur,"
forgetful of the horror which the emperor had always en-
tertained for civil war, and to avoid which he had signed
the abdication of 1815, exclaimed, " I have taken the oath
of fidelity to the republic, and I will never take any
other. With my hand on my heart, I can say that I have
ever been a republican, and when the moment for giving
proof of republicanism shall arrive, and it appears that it
has arrived, I shall be found ready to quit this bench, and
to place myself in the foremost rank of the defenders of
the republic. The republic is inviolable. I will have
nothing but a republic, and I would rather die than see
any other form of government."
The result of the abortive attempt to proclaim the Em-
peror has been once more to rally all classes round M.
Lamartine, and to procure for the Executive a vote of con-
fidence by a majority of 457.
The right of Louis Napoleon to take his seat in the
National Assembly was admitted on Wednesday by a
large majority, notwithstanding the strenuous resistance
of Ledru Rollin, who has, it is reported, given in his
resignation in consequence. The night passed off tran-
quilly, which there is reason to believe would not have
been the case had the assembly decided otherwise.
It was understood in Paris on Thursday that a " family
council" was held in Paris on Tuesday, of the moderate
friends of Prince Louis Bonaparte, at which it was resolved
to exhort him to persevere in the intention he had an-
nounced not to return to France until the Constitution
shall have been voted by the National Assembly.
M. Thomasin, who has been long remarkable for his
attachment to the family of Napoleon, and who was ar-
rested on Tuesday last, is the person who suggested the
idea of the monster banquet at 25c. (21d.) a-head. Seve-
ral vendors of lithographic likenesses of Prince Louis Bo-
naparte were arrested on Wednesday night by orders of
the Executive Government. An old gentleman who was
distributing pamphlets in praise of Prince Louis, from a
cabriolet on the Boulevard St. Martin, was likewise ar-
rested on the same afternoon.

Louis Napoleon again ! An indescriable feeling of in-
dignation was excited on Thursday in the National As-
sembly by a letter addressed by Louis Napoleon to the
president of the assembly, in which having stated that he
was about to set out from London when he learned that
his election had been made the pretext of disorders he
goes on to say " If the people impose duties upon me, I
shall know how to fulfil them."

The expression caused the utmost anger. Some cried
out that it was a direct challenge to revolt. The minister
of war, who is a grave unostentatious man, not at all ex-
citeable, but, on the contrary, austere, rose and said that
his indignation was such that he could not find words to
express it. What ht. n.rtioularly remarked in tne letter
was that the word republic was not once mentioned, on
which the whole assembly rose, and with one voice shouted
" Five la Republique !" M. Baum rose and said that, in
the name of the republic and the assembly, he protested
against the pretender's declaration of war, on which seve-
ral voices were heard to exclaim. " Yes, it is a declaration
of war." M. Baum continued—" We will have no pre-
tender, and all France must learn how this imprudent
young man has responded to the benevolence and gene-
rosity of the National Assembly." "To its weakness,
rather," interrupted a member. " I demand," continued
the speaker, " that this letter be sent back to the com-
mission." "Yes, yes," was heard from all quarters.
" The letter is an act of non-acceptation, and the triple
election of Louis Napoleon must be annulled." M.
Jules Favre, who had mainly contributed in having Louis
Napoleon admitted, retracted his support, and said he
shared in the sentiments of indignation expressed by the
minister of war. The minister of finances said that there
should be no decision taken hastily, and moved an adjourn-
ment until next day. The tumult that ensued was raised
to the extreme by a declaration on the part of General
Clement Thomas that according to his information they
might have to fight a battle to-morrow. He would move
that all citizens who took up arms to support a despot
should be declared traitors to the country. The president
recommended adjournment, and the finance minister ter-
minated the proceedings by saying, " Citizen representa-
tives, you may be sure that the government will take all
due precautions, and that there will be no battle." It was
then seven o'clock, and the assembly broke up crying
" Vive la Republique."
The accounts from Paris, dated Saturday night, state
that Louis Napoleon has resigned his office as representa-
tive of the people and this has put an end to the fears for
the present.
The following fact will give an idea of the losses sus.
tained by the total cessation of the sale of articles of luxury
in Paris at present. More than twenty manufacturing
jewellers have determined to close their warehouses and
to retire to the country until matters shall improve. More
than three-fourths of these manufacturers have not dis-
posed of the smallest article of their trade since the 24th
of February.
ONE OF MR. COBDEN'S FOREIGN FRIENDS.—There
is reason to suspect that the character and the practices
of those who have held the fortune and the destinies of
France in their hands since the 24th of February, will not
bear the ordeal of a parliamentary investigation, and that,
at no distant period, names which have been put forward
as worthy of national confidence and Republican honour,
will be branded with the infamy of dishonesty, falsehood,
and corruption. M. Cremieux, who is best known in this
country as the friend of Mr. Cobden, has had the ill luck
to be the first on this list of dishonour, though we are
persuaded he will not prove to be either the -last or the
first of those with whom he has served. Upon the direct
testimony of the two principal law officers of the Repub-
lic, M. Cremieux, the Minister of Justice, stands con-
victed in open Parliament of a scandalous lie, which he
himself described as " the foulest thing which could sully
the robe of a Minister of Justice. "—Times.

TAKING THE VElL.—Last week, Miss Georgina Hay,
youngest daughter of Lord James Hay, of South Park,
Aberdeenshire, tank the veil at l'ariv, in the convent of
the Assumption, Rue Chailtot, Champs Elysees. The
young novice, who is tall in stature, and bears a strong
family likeness to her cousin, the Marchioness of Douro,
proceeded to the gates of the convent in bridal attire, and
demanded admittance. Having been received by the su-
perior and the nuns of the order (the latter bearing
lighted tapers), she advanced through their ranks to the
cross bearer, and knelt down. After a pause, spent in
prayer, the community preceded her, at a solemn pace,
into the chapel, chanting hymns. Each nun repaired to
her stall, and the novice occupied a seat prepared for her
at the foot of the altar, where the usual ceremony took
place. She retired to the parlour of the convent in the
sin.ple habit of a nun, crowned with a wreath of white
flowers, and received visits of congratulation. Amongst
those present on the occasion, were the Duchess of Mont-
morency, the Ducs de Fitzjames and Tallyrand, together
with several dignitaries of the Romish church and mem-
bers of the national assembly.

Col. Reid has resigned the governorship of Barbadoes.
An army of 20,000 Austrians has menaced Vicenza,
which is to be attacked on three points.
The Emperor of Austria is expected to arrive in Vienna
on the 25th, to be present at the opening of the Diet.
The Bremin papers state that official information has
been received at Posen of a camp of 100,000 men now as-
sembled in the neighbourhood of Kalish. Everybody
fears a Russian invasion.

INSURRECTION AT PRAGUE.—On the 12th instant an
insurrection broke outlet Prague, in consequence of Prince
Windischgratz refusing to give cannon and ammunition
to the students. The Czechish population sided with the
latter. While Divine service was being performed on the
horsemarket, barricades were suddenly erected by the
crowd who had assembled in that place, and the mob
marched upon the hotel of the Prince. All the troops
were under arms, and opposed the passage of the people,
who at once raised barricades in front of the hotel. The
artillery was put in action, and succeeded in forcing the
PeoP9 and. le back, indeed, about 10 o'clock at night the
troops appeared to have gained the day. By this time
crowds of.peasants arrived in the town to assist the in-
surgents. It is asserted that the Princess Windischgratz
was killed by some person who shot at her from the win-
cowlof.& uekb.bounng house.

•`
- -

3.171

SPAIN.--It is reported that the Queen is in a state which
renders it likely that a direct heir to the throne would
frustrate the expectations of the Duchess de Montpensier.
It is also said that the Queen had written an autograph,
letter to Queen Victoria, assuring her of the friendly dis-
position of the Spanish government towards England,
and requesting her not to lend a hasty ear to the state-
ments of Sir "Henry Bulwer, but to wait for the docu-
ments that will be brought forward by the Spanish go-
vernment.

AMERICA.—The Caledonia arrived at Liverpool on
Wednesday morning. She brought £lB,OOO in specie.
The reception of the ratified treaty of peace with Mexico
is not yet announced, and the New York Courier says it
may be delayed some days or even weeks. From Yuca-
tan the news is again of massacre and bloodshed.
The warfare, or rather massacre, on the part of the
Indians, has been renewed with all its horrors : and the
last accounts represent the condition of the whole penin-
sula of Yucatan as helpless and deplorable. In Hayti
murder is let loose, the mulatto races being the special
objects of the vengeance of the blacks. The French and
English consuls were exerting themselves at Port-au-
Prince to restore order and security. An Indian war has
broken out in Oregon, the Indians having murdered Dr.
'Whitman, a missionary, his wife, and nine others.
" So confidently," says the New York Mirror," were
many unthinking persons anticipating a total overthrow
of the British government on the 10th of April, that there
were rumours flying about the moment the steamer (the
America) was telegraphed, that Queen Victoria and her
children were passengers in her."
MASSACRE OF TIIREE MISSIONARIES.—The Sydney
papers of the 31st of January, received by the last mail,
announce the murder of three English missionaries at
the island of St. Christoral, by the natives, in the month
of September last. The bodies were afterwards cut up,
and devoured toy the savages. The English attendants on
them contrived to effect their escape, and had reached
New Granada, in the ship Anonyme, which vessel brought
the news to Sydney.