The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-05-07 00:00:00

HURRICANE OFF THE MAURITIUS.

Within the last few days the subjoined intelligence has
been received at Lloyd's, announcing a most fearful storm
having occurred in the month of January last, off the
Mauritius, by which, we regret to state, several splendid
ships were totally lost. It is described to have been the
severest that has visited that island for many years, and
lasted nearly 28 hours. Among them the H ugh Matthie,
an Indiaman, on her first voyage, having only been launch-
ed by the owners, Messrs. Sparks and Co., at Maryport,
in Devonshire, in the early portion of last year ; and the
purpose for which she put into the Mauritius was to land
about eighty emigrants and their families from Calcutta,
and afterwards to proceed on the remainder of the voyage
to England. Through the zeal and vigorous exertions of
the captain and pilot. every soul (except one man) was
saved. The unfortunate person who was lost was one of
the emigrants, who, it seems, was washed overboard by
the breakers. The last letters received from the Mauri-
tius state that the ship had become a complete wreck, and
her fragments have been sold to the highest bidder. She
had a valuable cargo on board, consisting of merchandize
and East India produce, very little of which was saved.
The total loss was computed at £25,000 portions of which
sum will fall on one or two insurance companies.
The emigrant ship Amity was also a beautifully built
ship, and it is somewhat remarkable that she likewise was
on her " first passage" when overtaken and destroyed by
the tempest. This ship belonged to Liverpool, which port
she sailed from for Bombay in June last, and made an ex-
traordinary quick passage. From Bombay she proceeded
to the Mauritius, with emigrants for that Island, which
place she reached in safety on the 2d of January. One of
the vessels that left Liverpool at the same time that the
Amity did, was unable to bear up against the violence of
the ocean, and was eventually hurled upon the rocks. Two
other ships soon shared a similar fate, which, lamentable
to detail, also had a number of emigrants on board.
The ship Marion, Captain Ross, 350 tons burthen, also
in the emigrant trade, was wrecked within a short distance
of the spot where the Hugh Matthie went on shore. She
was from Calcutta, and had a valuable and miscellaneous
cargo ; providentially the whole of the emigrants were
saved, though they endured the most severe sufferings,
con equent anon their destitute state. She was lost under
precisely similar circumstances to those already detailed.
The Malay brig, Captain Shaw, with a number of emi-
grants also on board, was lost at the same time on the
same coast. The whole of the passengers were saved, as
also the crew.

Another ves,,el, called the Bordeaux, was lost during
the storm, but all on board saved. _

Letters were on Friday evening received, mentioning
the total loss by fire of the ship Palestine, between 500
and 600 tons burthen, belonging to the port of Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, off the Cape of Good Hope, in the month of
February last. Great anxiety is felt for the safety of the crew:
none of them have b en seen or heard of since the occur-
rence. She left Newcastle in the early part of Septem-
ber last, and was bound for the East Indies.

The Havannah papers mention the failure of the house
of M ooyor and Co., of that place, for 700,000 dollars.
ANOTHER DUEL.—We are sorry to be compelled to
state that a duel took place Yesterday morning, between
General W. Debuys, the State-treasurer, and Mr. R.
Richardson, which is likely to be attended with fatal con-
sequences and deprive the State of a valuable servant.
The parties met at the New Orleans Ball-room, at twelve
o'clock, and fought with sharpened foils. Mr. Richard-
son was severely wounded in the shoulder, and General
Debuys was run through the lower part of the body. We
were informed last evening that but faint hopes were en-
tertained of his recovery.—New Orleans Tropic, 25th
March.

INTOLERANCE AT ROME.—A weekly meeting of Eng-
lishmen has for some time past been held in Rome, in the
apartments of an Englishman of rank, for the purpose of
reading the Scriptures and prayer, at which the Dean of
Ardagh has presided, and Dr. Keith. the writer on pro-
phecy ; Dr. Harris, of Cheshunt ; Mr. Ellis, the South
Sea missionary ; several English clergymen, and persons
from Germany and America, have been present. On one
of these occasions, the assembly was turned into a mis-
sionary meeting, in behalf of the London societies, and
Lord Gainsborough took the chair. The ecclesiastics,
however, although they complain so loudly of the exclu-
sion of the Jesuits by the Queen of Tahiti, have put a stop
to the meetings. The landlord of the house in which the
meetings were held was sent for, and a prods verbal was
drawn up (which he was compelled to sign,) enjoining him
not again to let his house to " Methodists," and not any
more to hold a public kitchen in bis house. The poor man
d;d not so much care about the first part of the order;
but applied to the government to relax the order about his
kitchen. This they at once did ; saying, their object had
only been to stop the meetings, and, if that object were
effected, he need not be afraid to furnish dinners. Of
course, this policy succeeded, and the meetings ceased.
Letter in the Globe.

IRE LAND.

THE DUBLIN TRIALS.

On Monday last the Solicitor General resumed his
address on the part of the crown. The learned gen-
tleman commenced his arguments by replying to the
fourth ground of objection specified in Mr. O'Connell's
notice of motion, viz., that no evidence had been
given of any material or evident fact having taken
place within the venue laid in the indictment. He then
proceeded at great length to reply to the statements put
forth about what was termed the "fraudulent" suppres-
sion of names from the jury list, and went through the
objections of the traversers seriatim, and argued that
there was not the slightest reason for granting a new trial
on the grounds relied on.
On Tuesday the Solicitor-General concluded his ad-
dress at one o'clock, when counsel for the traversers com-
menced their addresses, and occupied the time of the
court until Friday at noon, when the Attorney-General
rose to reply, and continued his speech until the adjourn-
ment of the court.

On Saturday the full court sat, pursuant to adjourn-
ment, at two o'clock, when

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL continued his arguments,
replying to the objections raised respecting the judge's
charge, and the evidence of the newspapers. At nearly a
quarter-past five o'clock the Attorney-General concluded
in these words :—" 1 can say, with a great magistrate on
an occasion and under circumstances not unlike this, Ego
hoc animo semper fui, vt invidiam virtute partam gloriam
non invidiam putarem." The Attorney-General resumed
his seat amidst demonstrations of applause.
Mr. W HITESIDE adverted to the fact of there having
been at least twelve new cases cited by the Attorney-Ge-
neral in the course of his arguments, and the traversers'
counsel, he said, had a right to eon-uncut upon them.
Mr. MONAHAN said when the traversers' consel waived
(heir right to be heard by two counsel each, it was upon
the understanding that the Solicitor-General should men-
tion all the cases on which the Crown meant to rely, so
that the traversers' counsel would comment upon them ;
and Mr. Justice Burton said, that if any case not men-
tioned by the Solicitor-General was afterwards relied on,
that the traversers' counsel would he entitled to comment
on them.

After some discussion on this point.
Judge BURTON said, that if, on looking more fully into
the cases cited by the crown, the judges were of opinion
that it was essential for the traversers to have a reply,
they would be allowed it.
The court adjourned at a quarter-past five.

FATAL ACCIDENT AT DUBLIN.—On .Tuesday, Lieut.
Scott, of the sth Fusil,ers, was thrown from his horse
during parade in the Phoenix Park, and received so severe
a wound on his head. that he was taken home to Ship-
street Barracks in a state of insensibility, and died during
the night.
THE REPEAL A S.•3OCIATION.—At the weekly meeting
of this body on Monday last, Mr. O'Connell spoke at
;rent length and made frequent allusion to the probability
if his being speedily imprisoned. He moved that the as-
sociation, at its rising, should adjourn to prepare an ad-
.tress to the people of Lel aid respecting the conduct they
'tight to pursue at the termination of the state trials.
Tile rent for the week amounted to the small sum of £l9O.

MO3T DISTRESSING ACCIDENT.—A very afflicting ca.
iruity occurred on Lough Neagh, on Fr;day, by which
Mr, Alexander Charters: Mr. Henry Nelaon, and Mr.

Allen Bell, have been consigned to an early grave. They
had, that day, gone on the lake, on a pleasure excursion ;
and when rounding Ram's-island. the vachtin which they
were capsized, in a sudden and violent squall, and sunk,
when the three young men perished. Several persons on
the shore witnessed the occurrence, but no assistance
could be afforded. All the bodies have been recovered.—
Belfast Whig.
SUPERSTITION.—The following occurrence, which took
place last week at a place called Candlebrack, in the parish
of Inniscarra, deserves to be made public, not only as
awful in itself, but as showing the degraded state of su-
perstition i n which the people are kept. A young woman,
daughter of a farmer living at that place, had been disap.
pointed in a matrimonial arrangement, in consequence of
her parents not giving the amount of money required on
the man's part ; and he was in consequence married to
another. The former woman, who lived as servant some
miles from her father's, proceeded in the middle of the
night to the house of her parents, with a lighted candle in
a lantern, set file to the thatch while the inmates—her
parents and brothers and sisters—were asleep, and then
drowned herself in the river Toonah which flows by that
place.—The family escaped with great difficulty, but the
house and furniture, and a quantity of potatoes, were
consumed to ashes. The body of the unfortunate woman
was found lifeless in the river, part of ber dress found tied
to the lantern which she had left on the bank, apparently
for the purpose of marking the place. The awful super-
stition connected with the occurrence is this :—When
found in the river, a Romish scapular was upon her body,
which it appears was part of a regular set of that kind of
trumpery, worn by persons in Romish orders, which the
poor infatuated creature had purchased the day before
from the venders of such things in Cork, evidently with a
♦iew of screening her soul from the guilt of the foul and
awful crime she had then in contemplation. Had this
wretched superstition rested with the unfortunate woman
herself, it might have lost much of its weight, as a sample
of the spiritual degradation of the peasantry ; but the fol-
lowing facts give it general application :—The parents and
friends of the woman not only carefully kept the scapular
found with her in the river, upon her dead body, at the
wake, but had the other Popish rags above alluded to
brought and put upon her, and had her buried with them ;
and a report was circulated through the neighbourhood,
that though the scapular had not kept her from drowning,
yet it had showed its wonderful power in keeping her body
perfectly dry in the water.—Cork Constitution.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF EXCHEQUER, TUESDAY, April 30.

PICKFORD V. GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY COMPANY.

This was an action in which the plaintiff, the well-
known carrier, sought to recover compensation from the
defendants for the breach of an alleged contract to for-
ward certain goods of a perishable character from Liver-
pool to London on the night of their delivery at the
Liverpool goods station. At the trial it appeared that the
goods in question were taken to the Wapping station at
ten minutes past six in the evening, when the carman was
told by the warehouseman that he was in plenty of time.
The goods, however, did not go forward on that evening,
and the owners havine enforced their losses from the
plaintiff. be in turn brought this action against the railway
company. On cross-examination of plaintiff's witnesses
it was shown that there was a large board on the premi-
ses in Wapping, the purport of which was that " goods
received after 4 o'clock p. m. would go forward to next
working day," there being but one goods train from
Liverpool to London on each of the week days.
The jury having found for the defendant under the direc-
tion of the learned judge, Lord Abinger, on the ground
that there was no evidence of a special contract to for-
ward these goods on the same evening, a rule nisi was af-
terwards obtained for a new trial, on the ground of mis-
direction, and that there was no evidence to warrant the
verdict of the jury.
Mr. Erle and Mr. Crompton now showed cause. The
action was on a supposed special contract, which was a
deviation from the general one set forth to the public by
the board, and it was one which the servant of the compa-
ny could have no authority to make so as to bind the de-
fendants. The contract rather was to send forward the
goods so received at the earliest reasonable time, and
though goods might have been torwarded when left later
than 7 o'clock even, still the company were not bound to
do so. There was no evidence whatever to warrant the
jury in saying that there was any special contract, in the
first place; and in the next, there was no misdirection in
his Lordship's telling the jury that in his opinion there
was none, which was all he did say.

Mr. Martin and Mr. Cardwell supported the rule, and
contended that the learned judge was not justified in leav-
ing the facts to the jury as he had done, for the defend-
ants ought to be bound by the agreement entered into by
their clerk or weigher at the station. That person had
informed the plaintiff's agent that the goods were in time,
and that, coupled with the enquiry, certainly was very
good evidence of a special contract in respect of the goods
so delivered.

The Court was of opinion that there bad been a misdi-
rection on this point and therefore—
The rule was made absolute for a new trial.

It is said that Mr. Serjeant Goulburn, brother of the
Chancellor of the Exch-quer, is to auccerd the late Mr.
Merivale as one of the Commissioners of the Court of
Bankruptcy. The salary is £2OOO.

It was expected that yesterday morning the Solicitor-
General would move the Court of Queen's Bench fur a
criminal information against Mr. H u mfrey , the barrister,
for his speech against the Duke of Marlborough at the
recent election for Woodstock.