The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1845-05-27 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY REMINISCENCES

Yesterday, at the Police-court, a respectably-dressed
and intelligent man of colour, named John Tkomas Blen-
man, appeared before Mr. Rushton, to pref.& a claim for
wages to the amount of £l7 10s., alleged to be due to him
by Messrs. Rintoul and Zimmerman, of this town, owners
of the ship " Vitula." Mr. Davenport appeared for the
claimant, and Mr. Collier (of the firm of Davenport and
Collier) for the defendants. The complainant stated that
he sailed with the Vitula, Captain Fielding, from this port
on the 2d of October, 1842, bound to Buenos Ayres and
Valparaiso, and was, as steward, to receive £2 10s. per
month. The ship reached Buenos Ayres, and proceeded
to Monte Video, whence she went round Cape Horn, and
finally reached Callao. From the last-named port she
went to the Chincha islands, about 100 miles off in the
Pacific. There they took in guano, but the Peruvian au-
thorities said they were stealing it, and a Peruvian schoo-
ner, formerly a man of war, captured the ship and crew.
The captain and crew were taken to Callao in custody,
where they were driven on shore, and very ill used. The
Vitula was seized, and sold by the Peruvian government,
e claimant added that the sum stated was due to

him as wages.
Mr. Collier cross-examined the witngss, who said he
had received no advance or payment beyond a month's
pay on starting, and a dollar afterwards. Mr. Collier ex-
plained to Mr. Rushton that his clients had unfortunately
given:the vessel in charge to Capt. Fielding, with instruc-
tions to proceed to Monte Video, and thence to Valpa-
raiso, at which last port he was to do his best for their in-
terests. In place, however, of complying with these in-
structions, he had, on his own account, taken the vessel
to the islands named to get guano. He was caught in the
illegitimate act, and the ship was seized and sold. (The
witness read a letter from which it appeared that the sale
brought 15,000 dollars.)
Mr. Rushton enquired of the claimant•whether he had
ever applied to the British consul for his wages, and the
reply was, that be had. He added that the captain of
the Vindictive, British vessel of war, then there, knew
many of the circumstances, and he,believed was now in
this country. He (claimant) being in expectation of re-
ceiving his wages, remained in the country for fourteen
months, serving on board of a Peruvian steamer, from
which he produced his discharge—but as there were po•
litical cote motions and warfare goirg on all the time—with
three successive presidents—he deemed it advisable to
return to this country. He wished to get to his home in
Barbadoes as soon as possible, and would work his pas-
sage if he could find a ship.
Mr. Collier said that his clients had no wish to with-
stand a fair claim for wages, but as they had received no
official account relative to the sale of the vessel, they na-
turally inferred that the crew had • been paid their wages
by the consul, who it was to be presumed would look
after that matter. He requested, on their part, that the
further hearing of the case should be postponed until a
reply to a letter to the Secretary of State should be re-
ceived, as to whether any information on the subject had
been transmitted to him by the British consul in Peru.
Mr. Rushton said he considered it but reasonable that.
a fair time should be allowed for such enquiry by return
of post; bat the prima facie facts were such that he
thought the man entitled to his wages, unless good cause
was shown to the contrary, and that soon. He should (as
he was going out of town for a few days) in the mean-
time order payment on Saturday next, unless by that
time such evidence were adduced by the defendant as
would justify a departure from that award.
To this Mr. Collier assented.
The facts connected with the Vitula are of painful remi-
niscence. Captain Fielding, in place of attending to his
instructions, went to obtain, surreptitiously, a cargo of
guano at the Chincha Islands, without leave of, or the
customary payment to, the authorities. He was caught ;
his ship seized, and himself, amongst others, imprisoned
in Callao, and treated with, so far as we have heard, great
severity. He contrived, however, though strongly mana-
cled, to elude the vigilance of his Peruvian keepers, and
got on board of the Saladin, a passenger, along with his
son, a boy. While in that vessel he formed a conspiracy,
with a great part of the crew, to murder the master and
mate. These two were accordingly murdered, as were
also eight of the crew. After that horrible transaction,
six of.the crew survived, including two who had taken no
part in the transaction. These, after they had been some
time at sea with Fielding, became fearful for their own
safety, and secured, as far as they could, the knives and
arms in the cabin; and continuing to be still more and
more alarmed, they detetrained to make away with him.
They secured him and bound him down on the cabin floor
for two days, after which they threw him overboard.
They then held a consultation as to the fate of his son,
which ended in his destruction in a similar way. All this
was the work of four out of the six survivors. The ship
was afterwards" in her homeward voyage overtaken by
another vessel, and taken into New Brunt wick, where
the four. aggressors were tried, and, beir.g convicted of
the murders executed. The full details appeared in our
paper last year. The claim for wages made by the stew-
ard (Blenman) on the owners of the Vitula is the first
that has been preferred ; and he states that there is but
another man, the second mate, who can make any claim,
the twe alone being the only men who accomplished the
voyage, until the seizure, the others being shipped at
Valparaiso.

ON M. T. B. MACAULAY'S VULGAR REMARK,
" EXETER HALL SET UP ITS BRAY."

When asses speak, let impious men beware,
Nor in the path of ruin madly dare;
The senseless staff' may smite, yet still there stands
The unsheath'd weapon in the Angel's hands.

A FRIEND TO " TRUTH."

24M May, 1845.

The Bishop of Chester has announced his intention of
holding an annual confirmation, in future, for the benefit
of such pupils in the various schools in Liverpool as shall
be above the age of sixteen. His lordship has also stated
that this confirmation will take place at the end of Octo-
ber in the present year.

COMMITMENTS YESTERDAY AT THE POLICE COURT.
—Mary Woolfall, for stealing a pair of shoes from St.
Martins market on Saturday night—seven days imprison-
ment. Joseph Carlisle, a worker at the docks, for being
found in possession of two pieces of old copper from a
ship's bottom without being able to give a proper account
of how he became possessed of them—seven days.

•
ROYAL MERSEY YACHT CLUB.—The first club match
will come off, on Monday, the 16th June, and we under-
stand the course will be from Rock Ferry, up the Crosby
Channel, and round the Bell Buoy and back again to Rock
Ferry. The yachts, on account of the opening day being
so unauspicious, are going to sail in company, on Thurs-
day, round the lightships. To start off New Brighton, at
ten:o'clock in the morning.

STEALING LEATHER.—Yesterday, at the Police-court,
a man named Samuel Jones,. by trade a shoemaker. was
charged with having been found in the streets on Satur-
day night with a bundle containing a number of boot-
fronts—stated to be of the value of £6—of which he
could give no satisfactory account. It appeared that the
shop of Mr. Edward Welsh, currier, in Paradise-street,
had been robbed on that night, and several of the articles
were identified, though not very clearly, as his property.
The prisoner was committed.

ACCIDENTS, &c.—lnquests will be concluded to-mor-
row, before Mr. Curry, on the bodies of William John-
son and William Wynn, working men, one of whom bad
fallen into the hold of a vessel; and the other had been
scalded with dye-water, at Manchester, about a week
ago. They both died in the Southern Hospital.—Also
on the body of Francis Edward Peelew, a child, who was
found dead in bed, on Sunday morning, in Hale-street,
from what cause is yet unknown; and on the body of a
a man, named Carhill, who kept a tavern, The Lighthouse,
in Prices-street, and who died, on Friday, after an illness
of some short duration. He had, it is said, latterly
drunk hard.

ST. BARNABAS' 'DAY AND SUNDAY SCHOOLS.—It is
to us matter of sincere gratification to be able to record
the large measure of success which has thus far attended
these schools. Although only a fortnight in operation, the
day schools are already attended by 500 children ; and
the Sunday schools opened on Sunday last with 300 scho-
lars. This large number of tLe children of our working
ior are thus enabled, at a trifling charge to ,ir parP-

to receive the blessing of a sound icriptural education, and
placed upon the direct path to a life of usefulness and vir-
tue. In the church of St. Barnabas itself, so highly are
the Christian labours of its exemplary and talented mi-
nister, Mr. Nolan, appreciated by his flock, and by the
poor of the district, that a hundred free sittings have just
been added to accommodate the children, and those who
assemble to hear the word from his lips ; and yet the room
afforded is still insufficient, and an enlargement of the

for in iSin. The Protestant public of this wealthy town
will surely not allow those who hunger for the truth to go

away unsatisfied

LAUNCH OF A FINE IRON STEAM-SHIP.—On Satur-
day last, a beautiful iron steam-ship, called the "Prince
Ernest," of about 350 tons measurement, and 120 horse-
power, was launched from the yard of Mr. John Laird,
North Birkenhead, in the presence of a numerous and de-
lighted assemblage of'spectators. She is one of the sharp-
est vessels ever built on our river, and of a light draught
of water. Engines of the most approved.construction are
being built for her, by Messrs. G. Forrester and Co., who
have long been celebrated in this department. She is
built for the South-Eastern Railway Company, to run be-
tween Folkestone and Bologne. She was christened by
the Honourable Mrs. Hall, lady of Captain W. H. Hall,
R.N., who is so well known as the distinguished com-
mander of the Nemesis, iron steamer built at the same
yard, and which, it will be in remembrance, did this coun-
- -I..ulabie services in China during the contest in
:he world. The " Prince Ernest" is of
_ .cugth, and, on the water, presented a most rakish
and pretty appearance. We shall have an opportunity of
noticing her in detail when she is fully equipped.

that quarter of
great 1

AMATEUR PERFORMANCE.—We understand that the
gentlemen of the Licensed Victuallers Society, who ac-
quitted themselves so creditably hi the amateur perform-
ances, some time ago, in behalf of the funds for the cha-
ritable objects of that society, intend shortly to present a
popular play, and other entertainments at the Theatr e-
royal, for the benefit of that old and excellent institution,
the Blue Coat School. This is, we believe, prompted by
a grateful sense of the kind and liberal manner in which
their, efforts for their own decayed members, and the or-
phans of publicans, were received ; as well as a desire to
show that in venturing, on occasions " few and far be-
tween," to step aside from their usual avocations, they
are actuated by no motives of selfishness. We have no
doubt but the committee of the Hospital will give their
sanction to the proposition, as well as their co-operation
in ensuring a full and respectable attendance ; and that
the " coming night" will be looked forward to with in-
terest by a large portion of the community--especially as
many were excluded from attending on the former occa-
sion by the crowded state of the house.