The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-06-17 00:00:00

kWFUL DESTRIJkCVON OF LIFE.

TERRIBLE EARTHQUAKE IN THE liU,ND OF
ST. DGO.

From Le Patriote of Port au Prince of llth May.)

On Saturday, the 7th inst., at twenty minutes past seven,
in the evening, we experienced some severe shocks of an
earthquake, which gut the whole town in commotion. At
mid-day a large meteor was perceived passing to the east.
The heat was excessive, and thick clouds hung over the
neighbouring mountains, going in a dire‘..tion from southeast
to the northeast. The seamen who were in the roads report
that they felt the shock before they saw the houses shake, -
which would indicate that the shock came from the east.
Many persons, however, think they observed that the os-
cillations came from the north and went south.
There were two very decided shocks, the first was not as
long as the second ; the latter was the most violent, and
lasted about three minutes. All abandoned their houses,
and the streets were filled with the affrighted population. But
a little more, and Port an Prily2o would have been the scene
of a disaster similar to that of 140, a fatal year, which oc-
curred to the minds of every one.
There is scarcely a single brick or stone bons,: vilai,e,b jias
not suffered damage, they are all more or less damaged.
Some, it is said, are scarcely habitable. The façade of the
Senate House, on which is sculptured the arms of the Re-
public, surmounted by the tree of liberty, were detached
from the edifice awl broken into pieces by the fall. The in-
terior of the building has also received some damage.
In the night between Saturday and Sunday, two shocks
were again felt, but not as violent as the first, one at 10
o'clock and the other at 12. At 11 o'clock in the morning
of Sunday came another shock, mass at churels was inter-
rupted, and those officiating at it ran away, and many females '
fainted.
Monday, at 11 o'clock in the morning, another shock. il
The weather during these three days had a lowering and
at times a threatening appearance. Monday evening, a little
rain, with excessive heat before and afterwards ; night cool.
Tuesday, a change of weather, return of the breeze and ap-
pearance of rain.
In the evening at eight o'clock, the weather Ni4s stormy
and every thing seemed to indicate an abundance of rain.
The hopes entertained yesterday have not been realised.
On Wednesday we were awoke at a few minutes before five
in the morning by another earthquake.
During these latter days it appears to us as if the earth on
which we were walking was constantly quaking.
SAINT MARC.—A letter from this town, which has been
communicated to us, infornis us thatthere too the earthquake
of Saturday last was felt with the greatest violence ; many
houses have been ao much shaken that they.threaten every
instant to fall down. On some plantations in the neighbour-
hood of the town very great damage has been done.
GONAIYES, Bth May.—Yesterday afternoon an earthquake
was felt in this city, which was so violent that most of the
houses in it were thrown down. At the same time, in con-
sequence of the shock, a fire broke out in the apothecary's
shop of Mr. Invernezzes, and consumed in a few moments
an entire block. The flames destroyed every think that came
in their way ; there was not a drop of water in the town.
All the houses which have not been burnt down have been
injured by the earthquake, and this morning the shocks oc-
cur every quarter of an hour. The shops of Madame John
joufferts and M. Dupuy have fallen a prey to the flames.
The shops of M. Richard Dauphin and M. Oster, built of
stone and Wick, have fallen down. Houses and shops are
inaccessible, and we write these hurried lines in the street.—
The whole pow,ilation hag passed the night in the middle of
the streets. Of the merchandise, which the merchants had
been obliged to pile up in the public square, a great part has
been stolen. It is impossible at present to estimate the ex-
tenthwaares
ngeotw-
tlaincge,rtehaedytrfeoarsuthrye,ctohleonareslecnotmanadndtihneghtohuisse
district, whie
of the loss. The church, the prison the national pa-
nothing more than a heap of ruins.
In short, no one has escaped the calamity

Wow, while

we are writing, the fire is entirely extinguished, but the Au
looks threatening, and we are afraid of more shocks. If un•
fortunately our fears should be realized, there will be an end
of the few houses remaining standing, and Gonaives will be
no more.

The first and peineipal shock lasted about five minutes,
and was followed during the night by more than twenty
others, which though not so violent, were equally fearful.
It is now 8 o'clock in the morning. Not half an hour has
passed since we bad another violent shock. The number of
persons killed and wounded is not yet known. All the pri-
soners who were not buried under the ruins have escaped.
God grant that, the capital may not have been aPlicted with
a similar misfortune.

CAPE HASTEN, Wednesday, 6 o'Clock in the Evening.—
Most deplorable news is spreading throughout the city. It
has been brought by Mr. Obas, son of the general command-
ing the District of Plaisance. In consequence of the earth-
quake which was felt here on Saturday evening Cape town
has entirely disappeared, and with it two-thirds of the po-
pulation. The families which escaped this disaster have
taken refuge at La Fasette, where they are without shelter,
clothes, or provisions.
Such is the news circulating in town, and which unfortu-
nately is probably too true. It is to be ,hoped, however, it
will not be confirmed in its full qaent.
It is said that the President of Hayti has given ,o,rders to
the physicians and officers of health attached to the hospital,
to set off this evening and give their assistance to the unfor-
tunate victims of this disaster. .

Capt. Morris (of the brig Wm. Nelson, which brings the
account), states in addition, that a few hours previous to his
departure, a courier arrived with information that at Cape
Haytien a fire succeeded the earthquake, destroying the re-
maining houses, the powder magazine, and the remnant of
the inhabitants. St. Nicholas and Port Paix are said to be
in ruins, and in fact all the towns on the north side of the
island. According to a letter in the Journal of Commerce,
but one inhabitant of the Cape, a Mr. Dupuy, was saved, all
the rest being either crushed, or drowned by the sea, which
rose and submerged the city, Fearful, fearful indeed, are
the particulars of this awful visitation.
Cape Ilytien, known as The Cape or Cape Francois, on
the north coast, is the capital of the Republic, and formerly
contained some 900 stone and brick houses, with a population
variously estimated at from 10 to 20,000.
It is situated on a Cape, at the edge of a plain between the
sea and the mountains. The plain is exceedingly fertile, and
intersected by broad paved roads, lined with lemon and lime
trees.

It is in lat. 19 46 N. anti lon. 72 16 W

THE WEALTH OF ENGLAND

(From a New York paper.)
It is a common error in this country (America) to imagine
that the riches of England are derived from and dependent
upon her commerce ; and the influence of this great mistake
is shown in the many wild suppositions that have been ha-
zarded, touching the effects of Our commercial and financial
difficulties upon the financial and political condition of the
wonderful little island. The truth is, that the merchants of
England, with all their great capital and vast extent of ope-
rations, hold but a very small portion of the riches existing
in that country ; and this can be made apparent by a few
simple considerations. Look at the squirearchy, for instance ;
the thousands and thousands of country gentlemen, with
their comfortable incomes of three, or five, o: ten thousand
pounds per annum, derived exclusively from the soil, and
the enormous fortunes of the nobility.
Estimate, if it can be estimated, the immense amount of
treasure in the country, existing in the form of plate and
jewels. Why, at a single dinner given in London, on the
18th June, gold and silver plate to the amount of a million
and a half of dollars was exhibited at once : all the property
of one individual—the Duke of Wellington. This celebrated
personage could have relieved from all their difficulties all
three of the great American houses, which have been com-
pelled to stop, simply by turning over to them his dishes
and tureens, vases, and candelabra, without diminishing his
income one farthing; and there are fifty ladies in London,
any one of whom could have put Messrs. Brown and Co. in
ample funds for all emergencies, merely by making them a
present of her diamonds.
Without taking the crown jewels into account, it is no
doubt susceptible of proof that in London alone there are
gold and silver plate and jewels to the amount of two hun-
dred millions of dollars, and it must be remembered that
mighty as London is, the wealth of the kingdom in wrought
gold and silver, is very far from being centred there. An im-
mense quantity of it is scattered among the castles and coun-
try seats of the nobility, such as Alnwick Castle, Blenheim,
Chatsworth, Belvoir, Woburn Abbey, Bowood, and a hun-
dred others which we could name, and among the lovely
mansions of the country gentlemen, with which the whole
surface is dotted by thousands. Think of the libraries and
galleries, the immense and almost priceless collections of pic-
tures and statues, and costly works of art, in which no coun-
try in the world is richer. Why, the whole mercantile wealth
of England is but an item of comparatively trifling magni-
tude. The non-payment of debt, if it were not paid, which,
thank heaven, it soon will be, so far from inflicting a mortal
blow upon the prosperity of the kingdom, would never be felt
except as a handy theme for a sarcasm, now
and then directed against republican honesty and honour.
Duke of Bedford, or Northumberland, or
or thou
The fortune
Devonshire, would clear the whole of it, and nobody but his
grace be a farthing the poorer.
At of, except
the

It is a curious fact, that many of the smaller shopkeepers
in London are establishing a kind of rivalry among each
other, by offering to take light sovereigns at the least loss to
their customers. Thus, while one will take them at 19s. 70.,
another will take them at 19s. 9d. The profits made thus
may. be a sort of counterbalance with a few shopkeepers to
the inconveniences they are obliged to sustain, but it must
not be for a moment considered as any mitigation of the real
evil.