The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-05-14 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

than persevere in these measures until they had obtained their
object. (Heat, hear.)
Mr. Alderman THOMPSON agreed to withdraw his motion.

AFFAIRS OF THE EAST.
Mr. Husix rose to ask a question of Lord Palmerston. He
conceived that it was doubtful whether the policy which Great
Britain had pursued with regard to Turkey had not been
detrimental to her real interests. There was in it an apparent
want of judgment, and a realmismanagement, for which it was
difficult, if not impossible, to account. If there was any thing
more than another against which the house was anxious to
guard, it was against the occurrence of war in Europe, and
against the giving to Russia that preponderance in the east
which she had now obtained by the mismanagement of the
British government. The question on which he now sought to
obtain public information was this—why at the hour of need,
when a British force might have been of use, had the capital
of Turkey been deserted? why had there been no ambassador of
England there ? and why had there been no fleet in the Darda-
nelles,_ to give efficacy to the remonstrances which he might
have had occasion to make ? Whilst we were publicly avowing
that we concurred with France in her desire to maintain peace,
it was strange that we should leave the ministers of France to
resist by themselves the importunities of the Russian embassy
to obtain for their master military possession of Constantinople.
The question which he wisyd to put to the noble lord was,
had we any ambassador at Constantinople at present, or had
we not ? He held at that moment a report in his hand, which
showed that for the 14 years immediately preceding the year
1830 the diplomacy of the country had cost us annually from
£300,000 to £400,000 a-year. He had been told over and over
again that this was necessary to guard our interests abroad;
but now, when Constantinople was in danger of falling into the
hand of the victorious Egyptians, there was no British diplo-
matist resident in Constantinople, to support or assist the
remonstrances of the French embassy. He would again repeat
his question—" Who is the ambassador irons the Court of
England to the Porte? and if there is any second person, why
is not he at his post?" His object was to have an answer to
that question; and in order to do so, he should move that there
be laid upon the table of the house the number of all persons
appointed as ambassadors, or as ministers plenipotentanes, or
as secretaries of embassy to Constantinople since January,
1827, stating the dates of their appointments, and the amount
of their salaries; stating, also, how long each of them had
resided in Turkey since his appointment to his office. He
should not press this motion to a division, all he wanted was to
give the noble lord an opportunity of making a satisfactory
explanation upon these points to the house and to the country.
Lord PALMERSTON said, that he had no objection to grant
the return for which the hon member for Middlesex had moved.
He could tell the hon. member, however, without waiting for
that return, that Sir R. Gordon, who was ambassador to the
Porte at the period first mentioned in the return, had returned
home early in last year; that Sir Stratford Canning, who was
to have succeeded him, had been sent on an important mission,
which it was for the interest of Great Britain to have arranged
as speedily as possible; and that Lord Ponsonby, who had suc-
ceeded him, had been sent out to Constantinople, was now.
there, and would have been there sooner had it not been for
some difficulty which had arisen as to the means of transport.
There had been, however, during all that period at Constanti-
nople a secretary. of embassy who had acted with great judg-
ment and discretion, and whose conduct had 'met the entire ap-
probation of the government at home. He could not help say-
ing that he (Lord Palmerston) stood at that moment in a posi-
tion unusual for a member of any cabinet; for, after having
been exposed to the lash of the hon. member for Essex, for his
perpetual iutermeddling with the affairs of other states, after hav-
ing been visited with his castigation for mediating in one place,
and for arbitration in another, he was now exposed to the shafts
of the hon. member for Middlesex, who thought that he had not
interfered sufficiently iu the affairs of Turkey. There was, it
was true, some slight difference in the two charges brought
against him. His Majesty's government was blamed, in one of
them, in interfering in matters at their own doors, which in-
volved in them the safety of the empire, and was blamed, in the
other, for not interfering in matters which occurred at the other
extremity of Europe, which, however important they might be,
it was not possible to say were so important to us as the affairs
of Holland. He assured the house that the government had
not been inattentive to the events which had occurred in Asia,
or he should rather say in the east of Europe. Those events
had received the most anxious attention of the cabinet, and this
country, it would appear hereafter, had not been wanting in
taking steps to ward against the danger which those events-me-
naced. Whenever the government should be at liberty_to enter
s into the cessary explanation of the steps which it hageaken,
in cone *th its allies, he was certain that the house would be
of opinion t at it had not been unmindful of the duty which it
.1
owed to the countrof the character which that country
enjoyed among s at large.
After a few wor * n Mr. H. Davies and Mr. 11. L. Bul-
wer, Mr. Hume consented to withdraw his amendment; but in
doing so observed that the explanation of the noble lord was
by no means satisfactory.

THE BANK AND THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.
Mr. BARING.,-1 wish to put a question to the noble lord,
which I think it important that we should have answered. We
are now in the middle of the month of May; we know that the
charters of the two great chartered companies, the Bank of
England and the East India Company, will soon stand in need
of renewal; and yet we have received no notice of the period
when, or on the terms upon which they are to be renewed. The
house will recollect that, when a question was put on a former
occasion to the noble lord on this subject, the noble lord stated
that it was his intention to bring one, if not both, of these ques-
tions under our consideration before the Easter holydays. Now,
-the Easter holydays are passed, and the middle of May has ar-
rived. I trust, therefore, that I may now be permitted to ask
when are we to have the new charters for the Bank and for the
East India Company submitted to our consideration?
Lord AuTtione.=-I hope that I shall be able to brimg the
subject of the Bank charter under the consideration of the
house either at the end of next week or at the beginning of the
week ensuing. I cannot speak so definitely as regards the
charter of the East India Company, for the hon. member knows
as well as I do the existing, state of the negotiations pending
between the government and the East India Company.
The Speaker then left the chair, and the house resolved itself
into a committee of supply.
Mr. ELLICE proposed that there be granted to His Majesty
a sum of not less than £110,835 15s. sd. to defray the pay of
general staff officers and officers of the hospitals in Great 13r4. li
tain and Ireland, from the Ist of April, 1833, to the 31st of
March, 183.4, both days inclusive.
This grant was voted.
On the question that £94,627. 13s. 7d. be granted to his
Majesty to defray the charge of the allowances to the principal:
officers of the several public denartments for 365 days, from the
in
clusive,
Mr. of April, 1833, to the 31st of March, 1834, both
Mr. HusiE objected to the multiplicity of these offices, which
he said provided check upon check, until the check at length
ended in nothing. He complained especially of the inefficient
state of the
.pay-office, and regretted that the paymaster was al-
lowed to exist for a single day longer, (laughter ;) that was, as
a. paymaster. (Laughter continued.) He thought that the
paymaster, who introduced reform, should have shown his at-
-tajlimeut to the principle of it by reforming his office, if not by
reducing it altogether.
Lord J. RUSSELL argued that the offices objected to were
useful for expediting the payment of the troops. The honour-
able member for Dundee had suggested that the payments
might with great propriety be made at the Bank of England.
But, as the system was now established, the paymaster's office
afforded an efficient check to the subordinate departments.
Payments might, however, be made by the Bank of England,
by an order from the Secretary of State's office. He admitted
that improvements might be made in the system, and govern-
ment were very willing to exert themselves to effect that object.
They had already made an alteration with reference to the de.
putvaymaster. To do away with the paymasters altogether
would not be a measure of economy, but would be positively at-
tended with additional expense.
The resolution was agreed to.
The following sums were voted without discussion :—£17,500
for Exchequer fees, £119,000 for pay of general officers in his
Majesty's forces, not being colonels of regiments, from Ist of
April, 1833, to 31st of:March, 1834.
On the resolution granting £86,000 for full pay for reduced
and retired officers for the like period,
Mr. HOME asked whether government had adopted any. regu-
lation respecting-promotions and filling up vacant commissions
from the retired list?
Mr. ELLICE could only promise his best attention to the sub-
ject. His hon. friend knew that he (Mr. Ellice) was of opinion
that promotions should not be allowed to proceed too rapidly
without reference to the class of officers in question; and he
could assure the hon. member that there was every disposition
in his Majesty's government to be as economical as possible.
The following sums were then voted :
£632,000 for half-pav and military allowances to reduced and
retired officers of his Majesty's land forces.
£86,480 for half-pay and reduced allowances to officers of
disbanded foreign corps, for pensions to wounded foreign offi-
cers, and for allowances to the widows and children of deceased
foreign officers.
'1,145,444 for pensions to widows and officers of the land
forces.
£170,516 for pensions on the compassionate list.
£1,211,746 for Chelsea and Kilmainhatu Hospitals.

£51,374 for allowances, compensations, and emoluments, in
the nature of superannuations and retired allowances.
£12,500 for Exchequer fees, for issues, and for non-effectives.
The chairman then reported progress, and obtained leave to
sit again on Monday.
The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the
house adjourned at half-past one o'clock till Monday.

LOSS OF THE HIBERNIA.

We (Kilkenny Journal) have received the following
interesting letter of the melancholy loss of the Hibernia,
Brand master, from Liverpool to New South Wales,
which was burnt on her voyage out. We have read the
accounts which have been published by the agent at
Lloyd's, as well as a letter to Mr. Derbyshire, the deputy
constable at Salford, from his son, at present in South
America, but neither of them goes into the detail of the
melancholy event so circumstantially as the writer of the
letter which we now subjoin. It is written by Anthony
Fraile, a private in the 21st regiment Scotch Fusileers,
No. 67, (which was stationed here some time ago,) who
was on board the convict ship Lotus, which fell in with
the two boats full of those passengers who were saved.—
The following is the letter to which we allude :

Male Convict Ship, Lotus Rio de Janeiro,
S. A., Feb. 21.
DEAR Slll,—l take the opportunity of transmitting to you a
subject which, if you consider it of any importance to you, will
give me the greatest pleasure to be the organ of communica-
tion ; being one of the troops on board the above named ship,
a greater part of the circumstance has come within my own
knowledge from sources of incontrovertible facts, viz., ocular
demonstration, and facts related by the sufferers. On the llth
of February. at 3, a.m., a small sail appeared in sight, to wind-
ward of us, we being in latitude 7-42 south, and longitude 27-
17 west bearing, and, upon minutely observing, found them to
be two boats crowded with persons apparently distressed, and
considering them to be the crew and passengers of some wreck,
we immediately lowered our sails and lay to, to relieve them
from their perilous situation. As they neared us we could per-
ceive their distress the more, as they appeared to be in two open
boats, namely, the long-boat and gig, the former having the
latter in tow;lJeing jury rigged with a steersail, boom, and an
oar fished together to strengthen as well as to lengthen the
same ; a tarpaulin, with a bed-tick attached to it, to make a sail,
and a top gallant studding sail to make the other. When our ship
hoisted the red ensign, to let them know we were an English
vessel, and lay to to afford them assistance, they answered our
signs by hoisting one of the seamen's red shirts as a signal of
distress, and in the course of about three hours, namely, about
six p.m. came alongside, and were hailed by our captain, and
replied they were a part of the crew and passengers belonging
to the Hibernia, a fine American built ship, of 452 tons, from
Liverpool, bound for New South Wales and Van Dieman's
Land, with emigrants, which port she left on the 6th December,
1832, the greater part of which were pensioners and their
families. The information conveyed to us by the sufferers was
as follows :—On the sth of February, (being in latitude 5 south,
and long. 20west,) Mr. Geddes, second mate, who likewise acted
as steward, went into the spirit-rpom, which was immediately
under the cabin, accompanied by a lad with a lighted candle in
his hand; not !lying taken the precaution to have a lantern,
while in the act of drawing off some rum in a bucket, to serve
out to the passengers and crew, being upwards of 230 in num-
ber, the snuff of the candle communicated with the spirits,
which immediately ignited, he having endeavoured to suppress
the flame by s immergne the blaze, and, in his confusion and
anxiety to suppress the' flames, a portion of which communi-
cated to some tow or oakum which lay on the spirit room floor,
it immediately caught the flames and was so rapid in its pro-
gress as to bid defiance to his exertions and those of the lad his
assistant, communicating with some casks of tar and pitch
which were contiguous. The immediate assistance of the cap-
tain and crew, together with the passengers, was promptly
afforded, and water communicated through the coppers on both
sides of the ship to arrest its progress, but to no effect; the de-
vouring_element became so general that it extended fore and aft,
and baffled all hopes of its suppression. It then became neces-
sary to hold a consultation, and the conclusion was to abandon
the ship, which was immediately attended to, the long boat and
gig having been hoisted out, and the pinnace lowered, an
effort was made with difficulty to obtain some water and pro-
visions, which after si • ' d a great deal of danger, was
accomplished ; the , except a mere trifle, namely,
about three quarts o sea damaged biscuit, .a quan-
tity of spirits, three s ive, and some portable soup,
was placed in the pin boat was nearest at the time
to receive them, the abov. i provisions being all the long
boat and gig contained. 'I ptaina Mr. William Brand, and
sixty two of the crew and passengers lowered themselves into the
boat-, and gig. Amongst the number was the second mate, Mr.
Geddes, and the boat-swain; the second mate was so dreadfully
burned as to render him incapable of affording any assistance,
his life being in imminent danger. Mr. Henry Taylor, first
mate, took possession of the pinnace which contained their
water and provisions, with sixteen others of the crew and
passengers, Captain Brand luckily having a quadrant and
chronometer in the long boat previous to their departure from
the wreck, which was burned to the water's edge, the three masts
having fallen over the side, and they perceived the remaining
sufferers endeavouring to make a raft for their escape, and had
the mortification to witness the doctor suspended from a rope,
surrounded by four interesting young female sisters, clinging
round him, who were precipitated into the sea, and no doubt
have perished. These females were the Misses Meaders from
Dublin, who had been sent out by the Bigot-street society,
and many others perished previous to their -departure. They,
in the evening, set sail, and kept in company for sonic time,
until a breeze freshened up, which left the long boat and gig
behind, the pinnace making more way than those in the long
boat possibly could. Contrary to every remonstrance, Mr. Tay-
lor left them and would not divide the provisions. Those in the
long boat bore away for Pernambuco, Brazils, S A., it being
the nearest port at the time, and where all determined to make
if possible. The long boat being so leaky as to cause the men
to divide into watches of eight men in each watch, to keep
constantly bailing night and day, to keep her from sinking,
which, with all their exertions, they could scarcely accomplish,
from the extremely exhausted state of the men for want of
water and provisions, being several days and nights at sea.
On the sixth day two of the
.pigs were killed, and the blood
saved, one ounce of which, with one ounce of salt water, was
the only drink given to each person; one ounce of the damaged
biscuit, and the same quantity of portable soup, with a small
slice of the raw pork,was each person's allowance for that day.
One of the male passengers died on the night of the Ist February.
On the morning of the seventh day at sea, being Monday, the
11th February, a general murmur prevailed amongst the pas-
sengers, male and female, in consequence of the provisions
being nearly expended, except a small quantity of spirits,
and one live pig, having consumed the last of the raw pork; but
to their unspeakable joy, about halfpast one, p. in., they saw
a ship, and making towards her, between fear and ope, found
that she had espied them, and having hoisted her colours
lay to to wait for them.
Sir, thus far have I given you the particulars as far as re-
spects the information I could collect, and I shall now offer a
few remarks on the subject. When the passengers were re-
ceived on board the Lotus, their appearance generally indi-
cated that. they had undergone extreme fatigue and distress,
and their more immediate wants being relieved by administer-
ing the necessary comfoits to alleviate their thirst, which ap-
peared to be the most prominent want they needed, and others
being supplied with food, they began perceptibly to resume their
former cheerful countenances, and dispel the gloom which had
so manifestly pervaded their visages. A. survey of the boats was
taken previous to their being admitted on board our ship, and
the conclusion was, that the long boat was so dilapidated and
unseaworthy as to be immediately condemned, and in a few
hours after she sunk, the gig being sent adrift. We proceeded
to Rio Janeiro, and placed the sufferers under the protection of
the British Consul who, no doubt, will afford them every assist-
ance, and forward them to their destination. The number is
fourteen females and forty-six males. My object in sending
you this information is the expectation of its being acceptable
to you, and all our men being anxious that you shall have the
first information, being connected with the engine of publicity.
I shall take it as a favour if you will have the goodness to in-
form my wife, if she should call, of the circumstance, and that I
am well in health, as I hope you all are. I shall here conclude
with my best respects, and remain your most obedient and very
humble servant, ANTHONY FRAILE.
To Mr. Maxwell, Kilkenny Journal.
p.S.—Since writing the above, the pinnace, and the seventeen
sufferers were picked up at sea, and brought into this harbour,
and I am happy to say a spirited subscription has been entered
into to remunerate the sufferers.

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.
Extract of a letter from a gentleman of Bristol, dated Rio
Jaueiro, 26th February, 1833:—" The long-boat contained 52
souls, the gig 11, and the pinnace 17 ; about 30 mote got on a
raft, but have not since been heard of. The boats lingered near
the ship till about eight in the 'evening, when she was burned to
the water's
.edge, and several of the wretched passengers were
seen still clinging to the bowsprit and the main chains, scorched

and burnt, and invoking assistance by the most pitiable and
heart-rending signs. But it was in vain; those in the long-boat
could not, and those in the pinnace (on whose conduct severe
censures have been passed, but 1 will not undertake to say how
justly) did not attempt to save any of them, although in the lat-
ter there was avowedly a great deal of luggage, &c., which
might have been thrown overboard, and have made room for a
perishing fellow-creature. Unfortunately there was a prevailing
desire to secure luggage and property, which caused many to
jeopardize their own and their fellow-creatures' lives for.the
sake of an old box or a bundle. The husband of one of the
female passengers furnishes a singular illustration of this mania;
the wife had secured a place in the long-boat, and her husband
was seated by her side, when suddenly a child was thrown front
the deck and fell on her leg, the pain caused by the contusion
of which was so great that she fainted. On recovering, she
missed her husband, and seeing that the boat had pushed off
from the vessel, she inquired, in great alarm, what had become
of him. "Oh!" said another, "he is gone on board to look for
a bundle !" The deck at that moment fell in, and he most pro-
bably perished in the flames. Those in the longboat and gig
were picked up (after six days and nights of suffering,) by the
Lotus convict ship, and those in the pinnace by the brig Isa-
bella, from Guernse y.—Bristol Journal.