The British Queen, which left New York on the 1st
December, ar- rived off Portsmouth on Monday night. On the 6th November, during the passage out, which was very rough, Captain Roberts rescued five men, the master and four surviving sailors of the crew of the brig Mar- garet, bound from the Bay of Chaleurs to Leith, and wrecked, in the middle of the Atlantic. The passengers of the steam-ship held a meeting on the 20th, and passed resolutions expressive of their admira- tion of the conduct of Captain Roberts and Lieutenant Stewart, the second officer, in saving the shipwrecked men.
The Great Western steam-ship arrived in the Bristol Channel on ' Thursday morning at four o'clock, after a passage of fourteen days ten hours from New York, having sailed thence at one o'clock p. am. of the 9th. This voyage is the more surprising, as she encountered continuous easterly gales and head-winds for ten days out of the fourteen. She brings sixty passengers, exclusive of servants ; and among them, Cap- tain Lee, with despatches. She has also a full freight of cotton, &e., with nearly 200,000 dollars in specie.
It was expected that the Great Western would have brought the Pre- sident's Message; for which purpose she tarried at New York till the 9th ; but the Message had not then arrived, on account of the roads being rendered impassable by a dreadful snow-storm. Indeed, it was understood that a sufficient number of members to open Congress had not been able to assemble on the 7th.
The President's Message, however, which has been looked forward to with so much interest in this country, does not appear to have ex- cited a corresponding feeling in New York. The principal subjects of discussion in Congress will, it appears, be the Bankrupt Law, the Boundary question, and that relating to a National Bank in opposition to the Sub-Treasury Bill.
The Morning Chronicle correspondent " Publicus," writing from Philadelphia on the 8th, gives the following account of the voting for General Harrison and Mr. Van Buren ; which shows a great change of public feeling adverse to the Sub-Treasury scheme and Anti-Bank policy- " In the Electoral Colleges of the States, consisting of 294 members, Ge- neral Harrison has received 234 votes, and Mr. Van Buren 60.
" Of the States, twenty-six in number, nineteen have voted in favour of General Harrison, and seven for Mr. Van Buren. " Of the popular vote, (that is, the vote or the citizens in electing the mem- bers of the Electoral Colleges to vote for a President,) General Harrison has received a majority of about 135,000.
" The electoral majority of General Harrison is greater than the votes of Mr. Van Buren in 1836, by four votes; and at that time Mr. Van Buren was in the zenith of his popularity. The change, indeed, is extraordinary-, and mostly the work of the last few months. " With reference to the entire number of the votes given by the people, time official and reported returns authorize the statement that the gross amount will not vary much from 2,400,000. The increase here is also extraordinary; for in 1836, only four years ago, the whole number of votes polled throughout the Eldon at the Presideutial election was 1,498,885."
The snow-storm, it appears, continued three days; producing consi- derable loss of both life and property, and stopping the North and South mails for that period. There had not been time at the departure of the Great Western-for the arrival of full details of the damage sustained, although it was known to be very considerable.
Hostilities against the unfortunate Indian tribes are to be again im- mediately resumed, as the season aftbrds additional advantages to the regular troops. The pretext for this new war of extermination is a breach of treaty upon the part of the Indians ; but it is said that the fault rests rather with the American Government, whose demands, it seems, are most extortionate. The bloodhounds hitherto employed to hunt down the fugitives having proved in many instances inefficient, another species of hound, similar to those formerly used in St. Domingo, is to be imported from Cuba.
The following extract from the New York Courier and Inquirer of the 5th December, upon the resumption of cash payments, is important ; but, from the state of the roads, it was not ascertained whether the re- sumption had been effected previous to the 9th. The United States Bank, it was also understood, would resume cash payments on the 1st of February next- " The resumption of specie payments by the banks in Philadelphia may now be considered certain. Several of our banks, in conjunction with seine capi- talists, have agreed to take 750,000 dollars of post-notes, as proposed by the Philadelphia banks ; and the balance of the amount required, 250,000 dollars, is to be made up in a few days by the other banks. The day named for the resumption is the 1st of January next, though an earlier day may be decided on; and we understand strenuous exertions will be made to effect the resumption balm; the departure of the Great Western." The money-market was decidedly " easy " at New York The fol- lowing were the latest quotations of shares and rates of exchange— United States Bank Shares, 614 to 67. The rate of exchange on Eng- land, 4 dollars 83 cents to 85 cents the 1!. sterling ; on France, 5 dol- lars 171 cents. The Great Western brings a large quantity of bills.
Previous page
