The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-04-07 00:00:00

WEST INDIES

LIVING ON THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA. -- A friend
who has seen a letter from Africa, has favoured us with the
following extract. After describing the country, &c., the
writer (a lady) says :—" We had a dish of shrimps for break-
fast this morning, and I managed to eat one whole one and
the part of another. They are of an immense size in this
part. I had the curiosity to measure and weigh one, and
found it (which you will hardly credit, but which is perfectly
correct) to measure ten inches in length, four in circumfer
ency, and weighed a quarter of a pound. Oysters (real
natives) are sold at 2s. per hundred ; milk one penny a wine
glassful ; and flour ls. per pound !"—Preston Pilot.
SLAVE TRADE ON THE WEST COAST OF AFRlCA•—Ex-
tract of a letter dated Clarence, Fernando Po, Oct. 10
" On the 2nd instant the bark Ermalinda Segarda, prize to
Her .Majesty's ship Madagascar, with 120 slaves, arrived
here in a very leaky state, having struck on the bar of the
river in which she was captured, knocked away herforefoot
and damaged the forepart of the keel. The day after
she
arrived here she was hauled upon the beach, in expectation
that it would be possible to repair the damaged parts tali n
enable her to proceed with the slaves to Sierra Leone ; this
not being accomplished, the slaves and their provisions have
been landed here, and the prize crew put on board the Sou-
d.an. The vessel remains on tbe beach, where sha fills every
tide, and will consequently become a wreck. The slave@
have been placed under the charge of Mr. Hensman. The
inhabitants of this town applied to the commander of the
Madagascar to apportion the liberated slaves to them, but he
declined doing so. How they will be disposed of remains
to be seen ; but it is so far fortunate for the liberated Afri-
cans that there is a British commercial establishment here to
afford them protection and security."

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

BRAZIL

(From the Times.)
Accounts from Rio have been received to the Bth February,
they state that Mr. Ellis's mission has entirely failed, and
that he is making preparations to return to this country
almost immediately in his M. M. S. Malabar. His proposal
for a fresh treaty has been rejected by the Brazilian minis_
ters, the terms not being such as they are willing to accept,
but they have offered to treat if the English government
will reduce the duties on Brazilian sugar and coffee to the
rates as those on sugar and co h t_e produce of .the
Britisamesh colonies ! Of course Mr. Ellffisee, has no power to ne-
gotiate on any such terms. It was understood that he was
to give up his house on the 15th February,
and to take up
his residence at Johnston's hotel until the Malabar Was read
to sail, unless this display of promi!titude and decision sould
shake the decision of the Brazilian goverment
ministers are very civil, and they have disclaimed, in the
House of Representatives, any intention to impose higher
duties on British goods than on those of foreign nations.
but they seem to be as determined as they are civil.
The Linnet was to be detained to the 15th February, and
it was not considered certain that she would sail even then.
STATES
In the heavy gale of September last, in the Gulf of
as
co, three ships of war are supposed to have been ls as th
were in the gulf at the time, and have not since been
, th tate of
of, viz., the British brig Victor, the French brig Dunis
the Texan schooner San Antonio. Nearly 380 man and
supposed to have perished in them. are
and theCTI;
PRESENT EXCITEMENT IN TUE UNITED
Never have I known such universal excitement throughout. ..."
the country. Political parties of every kind are in as
agitation. The Presidential question is, perhaps
absorbing ; but local politics in the different states are e moat.,
ducted with far more than ordinary asperity, a
excitement
thereof no man can foretel. The Democratic party is brokenci
into factions, each striving for the ascendancy. The Whigs
are inactive, but before long, it is presumed, they too will r
in the field. As yet no candidate, except Mr. Clay, has beenee
named by them for the Presidency. The abioe
alluded to is not confined to politicians. It extends,
greater degree, to the religious community- A fanatic al):
the name of Miller, bad taken it into his head that this '
is to be destroyed during the present year. He is pro world
ing, with great zeal, this opinion. Several persons of Weak
have become deranged through alarm. Man Weak
thinking that Miller might possibly be right, have re tilers*
of their sins and joined the Church. The Baptists, the
thodists, the Presbyterians, &c., are bolding what st the Me.
protracted and prayer meetings, and great is the are termed
their flocks. The number of converts is v increase of
The Baptists have been most successful. very numerous.
cause of pure and undefiled religion will ultimatelyether the
'noted by this system of fanaticism is matter ebe pro-
hope it may, but Ido not believe it.— Corre doubt. I
Times. spondent of the

The Austrian Observer of the 22d ult. announces that all
apprehension relative to the health of the Archduke Francis
—The Chamber of Peers, on Friday evening last,
eacesdhht:Fi
aampa .eetbtdsseeTrscht
hhEacouedi r
spc Deputiesldeasaat42yes ceased.
andd g4l b3y ab
ym
aa jority of 95 t o 14
adopted the extraordinary credits and
without
i tyhoofutlp7a3dtdoleBw2.heels,
pretty steam bmoaatj
was seen to proceed up and down the river, in front of the
; ""4 "4" 644'44"'" • IL wan uy
aQs-c-rew, on the Archimedian principle. This boat, which is
about 14 or 15 metres long and 4 wide, is intended, it is said,
as a present to Queen Pomare, and is to proceed to Otabeite
shortly, from Havre or Nantes.—Gala9nani.
The of the French and the royal family will remove
to St. iCin
Cloudg on the 17th of next month. The apartments
are now being got ready for their reception, and the marriage
of her Royal Highness Princess Clementine with Prince Au-
gustus of Saxe Coburg will be there solemnized. Apartments
are also being prepared for the prince and princess, and for
his royal highness's father and brother.

Advices from Alexandria of the 16th ult. state, that the
Pasha was then makinLaed
General had left Cairo for
tourfe through Lower Egypt, and
that no period was his
Alexandria,turnii r 91:ellonnsititslh-
Consul had already arrived. It was where
eted that two
negroes in the service of Ibrahim Pasha had died of the
plague at Cairo. Some alterations were about to be intro-
duced into the commercial treaty between Great Britain and
Turkey. The British merchants of Alexandria had been
called upon to furnish Sir Stratford Canning with tbeir
times
ob.
servatious on the subject, and had already- met se
for the purpose. There appears to have been a general out-
cry against the new bank, the directors of which were re-
garded as incompetent for the task. The accounts from.
Syria were of the 10th ult. The country was tranquil, and
the Kaitnacans were still engaged in adjusting the claims of
the sufferers by the last insurrections.

OTA E JTE•---Tbe National (Paris Paper) states, that
Admiral Dupetit-Thouars has not accepted solely the alliance
offered him by the Queen of Otaheite, but that he has really
taken possession of the Society Islands. lie
is ha
abou already
to ibre
n..
stalled a number of civilians, and a garrison t
despatched thither, which will be provisionally composed of
four companies of artillery and five companies of marines:
Several vessels, and amongst them a frigate, are to be em,;.
ployed to transport those troops to Otaheite.

MARRIAGES AND AND DIVORCES.---Mr. Elphinstone has ink
age and divorces wh•
troduced a bill into the House of Commons, entitled a bin
for establishing a court for inarri . , -ich visa
read a first time on Thursday week, Sir R. Peel and Sir J.
Graham voting for it. The bill provides that the Ecclesia*
tical Courts shall not conti marriages,ercise their present jurist
diction in suits relating to but the same shall in
future be exercised by the new court, which is to have p or
grant f-
in certain cases to direct a trial by jury of any issue to be,
; or that:
tried before a judge at Nisi Prius. Suits now pending are to
be transferred to the new court, and the judge may
divorce for adultery committed by the wife the huso
band nas been guilty of incest or sodomY, a vinculo
mond, (this would enable the injured and guiltle matri:.
marry again without a special act of parliament,ss party
tamed in each particular instance of wrong, to be ob-
which is generally beyond the means of and
the
cost Qt
command;) and also a separation a most individuals to
judge may separate parties ott accottutme et
thro.
1111 C
of eonstutguittity.

The steamer Teviot arrived at Falmouth on Sunday with
the West India mails. She brings no Jamaica mail, the
steamer not being ready to bring it up. Her dates are, from
Tampico, the 21st of February; Vera Cruz, the 26th of Fe-
bruary ; Havannah, the 9th of March ; Nassau, the 11th;
Bermuda, the 18th ;.and from Fayal the 27th. She brings 23
passengers, and on freight 360,000 dollars, and 170 derons of
cochineal.

On the IGth of February a heavy norther was experienced
at Vera Cruz, in which five foreign vessels were driven on
shore from their anchors, three of which became total wrecks.
Campeachy continued to be blockaded by the Mexicans,
and the Montezuma steamer had left thither from Vera Cruz,
on the 23d of February, having in tow transports conveying
reinforcements to the amount of 500 troops. Nearly the
whole of the British seamen in the service of the Mexican
expedition had left, and there was much sickness prevailing
at Campeachy. Dates from Vera Cruz are to the 2Gth of
February, by which we learn that Santa Anna intended leaving
that city for the capital on the day following.
From St. Thomas's, we learn that several slight shocks of

earthquake have been. experienced there since the departure

. .
of the last mail-boat, but causing no injury of any kind. A
/
supplement to the Guiana Times, under date March 4, from
George-town, expresses most warmly the feelings of disap-
pointment and annoyance which pervaded the public mind
there on discovering that the Medway steamer, which bad ar-
rived on that day, brought no European mails ; and, as the
return mails were to be closed and despatched the following
day, they would be excleded replying to their European let-
ters for another fortnight. Money was stated to be very
scarce there, and the best bills of exchange could find no pur-
chasers, which depressed state of things was mainly to be at-
tributed to their (the colonists') ignorance of the temper of
the Imperial Parliament, with reference to immigration from
Africa, and of the tone assumed by her Majesty's Govern-
ment upon that and the sugar duties as indicated by the
Queen's speech.
The devastation of the earthquake in Antigua, Guadaloupe,
and the other contiguous places, was the great topic of dis-
cussion, and although Demerara, Barbadoes, Trinidad, and
Jamaica have severally furnished funds to liquidate and ap-
pease the necessities of the communities who have been so
sorely afflicted by this unexpected calamity, a further appeal
is made to the British public at home to give some assistance -
on the occasion. The Antigua Legislature have addressed a
petition to Lord Stanley, asking a loan from Government of
the amount of £lOO,OOO at a moderate rate of interest, to be
paid by instalments at such periods as it may be expedient
to dictate after a benevolent consideration of the deep dis..
tress occasioned by their late melancholy visitation.
On the condition and appearance of the crops favourable
opinions are expressed, the weather being stated as highly
congenial to the operations of agriculture. At Barbadoes
and Antigua the comet had been seen. The produce shipped
from Trinidad from the Ist of April to the 28th of February
was 410 hogsheads, 127 tierces, 117 barrels of sugar; 260
puncheons, 6 tierces of molasses ; 334,5351 b of cocoa, and
22,6341 b of coffee.
No Jamaica mail has been received by thisadrerintile,nscoymeof
irregularity in the system of intercoloni4co mmunication
being hinted at as the cause of the delay. Most of. the island
gPacket thetphaepearrsracnognetmineunettshoefirthceoßmopylaailntsiarielsspteecatim Company.n

A of A

The Earl
Dogs Bill.
Lord CAMPBELL opposed the motion, and moved that it
be read a second time that day six months.
A discussion took place, followed by a di
the numbers were 14 each. The Lord Cha
casting vote against the motion, and the bill is according
der.ntpa

itries.
of WiclcLow moved the second reading of the

bills on the tal

their lordships adjourned

ROUSE

were forwarded a stage

OF COMMONS-:

in whic

dges a mass of

ition was

House of Lords

vr a power of d

and Mr. Ru-

6.tions of

HARDY

lavr upon no better

follow

power,

profitable

the feeling a

greater sacrifice than ti

who ha

capital
Sir Hen

rance b

were unfortrnately unpopular in China, ant more particularly

st us amounted to hatred ;
mitigated by the smuggling

le iu opium. tie

s throne if he

as therefore de-

the example of Jr.N Wil-

lterest

.31 himself witnessed scenes which
s, physical and moral, which had

m end to the trade in opium he
s of nnininn that the mnnnnnlv

a, although for pur-

India had recently too

ought to hesitate before adopting a policy so decisive.
Mr. HoGG contended that no substitute could be found in
the room of the monopoly of the cultivation of the poppy.
That monopoly not only acted as a check upon the produc-
tion of opium, but its evils were greatly exaggerated. It was
quite impossible to put down the smuggling of opium upon a
coast so extensive as that of China, otherwise than by legal-
ising the trade, which he hoped would be done before long
by the Chinese government.
Lord SANDON said that he was quite ready to go on if the
desired it, although at that hour and amid the confu-

sion which prevailed, it was impossible to do justice to the
subject of the debate. He had heard a great deal on minor
points, but had received no assistance on the great question,
whether it was possible that our relations with China could
coexist with the opium trade. Among other things they had
heard was a long speech about the glory of the people who
ate opium ; but had they. not evidence of every kind, evidence
not only from missionaries, but from persons engaged in the
cultivation of the soil, to the effect that the growers and con-
sumers of opium were a people generally in the lowest state
of degradation ? Then another hon. member had told them
that opium was the only stimulant permitted to be used by
Mussulmans. He believed, however, that opium-eaters
were looked on by their fellow Mussulmans with much scorn
and contempt, and that they were no more permitted by their
religion to consume it than they were permitted to consume
any other intoxicating liquor. But all these, as he said be-
fore, were minor questions compared with the one great
point for consideration. What we wanted was a permanent
and peaceful intercourse with 300,0000,000 of people, with
whom we might, under certain restrictions, carry on a most
and flourishing commercial intercourse. To lose
golden opportunity would be worth an infinitely
sacrifice of the opium trade. For
we did relinquish it, we should soon

receive more than ample compensation. If we did not relin-
quish it, if we did not act honestly and manfully, let us not
console ourselves by supposing that the Chinese would give
credit to any shuffling apologies. The Chinese were now an
enlightened people. They read our newspapers, and were
acquainted with our customs, and they were fully aware of
how, and by whom, this opium trade waS supported. It was
time that the Government took steps to redress the evil, and
if they did not take such steps upon them must rest the re-
sponsibility. We must show the people of China that we had
no hand in forcing this drug upon them. The Chinese Go-
vernment had been honest and uniform in its opposition to
the introduction of this drug. He could not remain silent
and see a question of this nature treated with levity, on which
the character of 300,000,000 of people depended. He heartily
supported the noble lord's resolution. It was a disgrace to
a Christian nation to carry on the opium trade as we had
done. He entirely concurred in the opinion expressed by
every port and large manufacturing town out of London, that
the existence of the opium trade would make it utterly

possible that our manufactures could have any considerable

expansion in China, or any permanent reception a
Sir R. ING Lis hoped that no one would vote on

the goes-
and Lord

ihley, whose proposition he most warmly supported.
Sir R. PEEL said it behoved the House of Commons to

weigh well the resolutions it adopted upon a subject so im-
portant as the present. A resolution was a very different
thing from a bill. In the case of a bill the house had many
opportunities of expressing its opinions, but in the case of a
resolution the whole question was settled by a single vote.
Would they, under such circumstances, at once decide that
no poppy should be grown in India, when, by so doing, they
would be only throwing the trade into the hands of the in-
ants of the Manilla Islands, and find eve❑ there that
ild be mainly conducted by means of British
Ls far better to leave the matter in the hands of

Pottinger, who was negociating with the Em-
peror of China upon the subject, while the British Govern-
ment was in every way discouraging the smuggling of opium
into China, and had even recommended that it should not be
introduced into Hong-Kong. With respect to putting down

)le baronet contended that if it was 1,
ie introduction of opium into India from th

issible to prevent

.eighbouring

rities on the sub-

be imposed was the

3 of th

and the con

taking place

bbaies, raffia; as a tiormal system for the purpose of
drawing numbers towards dissenting chapels—a system
of proselytism of the young of other persuasions, who
are driven by the lack of educational facilities and op-

.thing of the

dissenting bodies—than one having in view the exten-
sion of religious training, per se ! Virtually these pe-
titioners declare that they would prefer seeing the
neglected children of the factory districts grovelling in
midnight . darkness, than see them drawn towards the
light of scriptural truth by any path which does not
lead to their own
by
financial point of view, we this

! It is not,

that the dissenting bodies are to be re-

stricted in their duties. It is not that the dissenting
conscience is to be invaded. But the Church's sphere

of usefulness is to be increased ; and hint illce irce !
It is with sorrow, by the bye, that we learn, from
an article in the Liverpool limes—(written most pro-
bably by Mr. Blackburn, of anti-church-education no-
toriety, for it contains the worthy doctor's view of the
case as put forth in some resolutions adopted by the
Dissenters of Liverpool,) that the Wesleyan Metho-
dists, firm friends as they are of a similar system of
education in-our Corporation Schools, are vehemently
opposed to the bill of Sir Jomes Graham. We disbe-
lieve the assertion ; or, at all events, if such opposition
exists, we are firmly persuaded that it is based upon a
similar want of knowledge as to the provisions of the
bill which is displayed by our wise contemporary him-
self. The Times says, " They, (the Wesleyans,) have
no idea of submitting to have the schools which they
have supported for so many years, closed by act of Par-
liament ; of having the children, for whom they have
done so much, driven from them by that clause of the
act of Parliament which prescribes that no child edu-
cated in any schools, except those mentioned in the bill,
shall be allowed to work in any factory." Perhaps our
contemporary will be kind enough to point our atten-
tion to "that clause in the act of Parliament" which so
prescribes. We never heard of such, and cannot, for
the life of us, discover it in the printed bill.

We had prepared some remarks upon the debate in
the House of Commons, on Tuesday, on the motion
of Lord Ashley, upon the subject of the traffic in
opium between our East Indian possessions and China.
The deficiency of our space, however, entirely pre-
cludes us from giving them at length ; and we regret
it the less, inasmuch as it would be out of our power
to convey to our readers more than a very faint idea of
the case made out by Lord Ashley and his supporters,
in deprecation of this illegal, and indeed piratical
traffic, which, for the sake of a paltry Indian revenue
of some million of money, debauches the natives en-
gaged in the opium culture, and cuts off every hope of
a peaceful extension of our more legitimate commerce
with the people of China.

Upon one feature of the debate, however, we cannot
forbear remarking. Our noble representative, Lord
Sandon, it will be observed, most emphatically and in
a tone worthy of a Christian senator, denounced this
unholy traffic ; and never, in all that we have seen of
his parliamentary career, was the speech of Sir Robert
Peel, addressed, with something almost approaching to
personality, to his lordship, less worthy of a great
statesman than on this occasion. It would have served
every useful purpose, towards a member, so little given
to initiate or entertain motions embarrassing to govern-
ment as in Lord Sandon, to have simply stated the
grounds upon which her Majesty's ministers objected
to the motion of Lord 'Ashley. It is seldom, by the
bye, that motions merely declaratory of abstract prin-
ciples are other than embarrassing ; and more seldom
still that they are useful. There was something, how-
ever, peevish and pettish in the tone of the premier on
this occasion, which must grieve his most sincere friends
to observe, especially directed to a member of the high
standing deservedly possessed by the noble member for
Liverpool ; and certain we are, that a perusal of the
speech in question is anything but calculated to advance
the cause in behalf of which it appears to have been
made. As a whole it is, in sentiment and in argument,
perhaps the most utter failure ever made by Sir Robert
Peel or any other minister

The boon, for which our good neighbours in Man-
chester have been praying for years past, is at length
about to be conceded. The government of Sir Robert
Peel, less hard-hearted than previous governments,
has consented to the privilege of bonding foreign pro-
duce being extended to Manchester; and, from hence-
forth, the metropolis of the cotton trade will have its
custom-house, with a collector, controller, clerks,
searchers, landing waiters, and other officers, and be-
come in fact A PORT, in every thing except the pos-
session of, what have always been considered indis-
pensible requisites, viz.—the contiguity of water and
of shipping. Questionless, such a trivial deficiency
can easily be got over. •

As a condition, however, we observe that it is stipu-
lated by government—much to the dissatisfaction of
our friends in Manchester—that they must themselves
disburse to the revenue the cost of their hobby. It
will require five thousand pounds sterling, per annum,
to furnish even a " skeleton" establishment—to start
them, as it were, in their career as an importing and
bonding people; and this sum (which the Manchester
Guardian considers an extravagant one, but which, if
bonding to any extent is to be practised, will have to
be doubled and trebled) the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer, very reasonably, requires to be furnished by the
people of Manchester themselves. Of course, there
can be no difficulty on this score, when we look at the
magnitude of the benefit to-be derived—when we con-
sider the hundreds of thousands of pounds, (in the
shape of expenses of cartage, porterage, commission,
&c.) to be snatched from the devouring maw of the
community of Liverpool. A people, who possess pub-
lic spirit enough to volunteer the supply of some four
or five tons of waste paper weekly, in the shape of
anti-corn-law tracts, to the public of the empire, can
scarcely be stayed in the realisation of a project, so
important as that of converting their town into a depot
for the entire produce consumed in the manufacturing
districts, for want of the paltry matter of five thousand
pounds.

The circumstance which puzzles us, in connexion
with the subject, is this. It is so long ago as Thurs-
day last that the meeting, at which the success of the
deputation from Manchester, which has been in com-
munication with government, was announced to the
world ; and yet we can thus far discover none of those
awful signs which might have been expected to mark
the conversion of this great mart of commerce into " a
paltry fishing village !" Yesterday, indeed, we ima-
gined the face of the figure of Britannia upon our
town-hall to he a little elongated, as she gazed down
upon the " lads of the flags" beneath her. This, how-
ever, must have been fancy. We have heard of no
nettles growing around our docks ; no grass springing
in that " place where merchants most do conureuate :"
nothing, in fact, newer than the comet or the nebulous
tail which astronomers suppose erroneously must have
a head " thereby to hang." We have heard of none
of our brokers transporting themselves to the mudfog
metropolis, nor of any carters, porters, coopers, " et id
genus omne," on the move. The world of Liverpool
still goes on, if not " merry as a marriage bell," yet
merry as usual; and we ourselves have seldom felt in
more excellent humour with all mankind.

Perhaps, however, the latter circumstance may arise
from the fact that, most unfortunately for us, we are
not shareholders in the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway—an undertaking which most undoubtedly is
to be ruined outright by the change which is about
! The Chancellor of the Exchequer, we
observe, has not the slightest objection to bonding in
Manchester; but, as a sine qud non, the goods to be
bonded must be transhipped into Old Quay fiats, in
the same way, Mr. Lingard, the agdut of the said 01(1
Quay Company, observes, as they were transhipped
before the Liverpool and Manchester Railway had its
being ; and, of course, if we were so fortunate as to be
railway proprietors, we should be infinitely alarmed
for our property !