The Sun. — London, England, 1841-04-15 00:00:00

I lENa —Turt;PAI r three Yr s o 9st 211 Y; ' n o ld for lbeht Edwa•vi ..... .... .. ...... . ........ . . Ithless (US nnor elaime;, it, for th e o, 7lb ; hib' bo th )b•• Day) 0 1 o f) ° """ 0 3 W 5 nd vciog, o— ,bo pri B, out 0/ 31 1: fillies fist ! ( Robinson) ......:.• ..... yttl. ~se l ll Lic' ng o f 'd. +i us cgt'' p ode Jessie ; c ol. cr tbri e boo race for guthl e ' alit° wasdate coo i - 0 1(15 , to th e of cspere" s , tr ibe cad h e ' t the de d ° a Roe way, s .Nick steiattiol 1 , Ird's C° ., ie. j ly b Icv cr n g S. s • tn y't 4 J or 0 0 Me dtv c°ll i ltb 30 g roar , 498 5 K ora l e a dor .eu cow • Ab: ld° s q . 0: 0 Lot" ,dfot CaP tiii Peal , A 0 1 ' bell Aus trali j :tio be OP' g tb ;"Jeo If a st ; .p, r. ; ...... ..... •• sP 4 easY• A o' ad ,c pro - Ilie 6 sfe h in tried to 3 übo• ) ..... 3 ....... 4- .... 1, ta• 1 lig 83 ) (J. D A Y 41b) xi Sit ......... 4 •-- .. ....... z ed etta,. s old fillieh wed alb ) ; (31b)..100 ,eated bf Mr. Foo Af' *sv o r, rb ,d, do 1 I tc1109 ) d r. ' so f° v ia slri sc. 14$. .0 A- t o il t /5 to te a c re el)! 0 ; 0 a n d .3 en ~ oftelf ff to! 3.--o $ 1 •;0 lg t° bet t o the it th ee id n 5 Ives -4 b is (tv C IP S 0 to .st A l' to - o ger° g 140 hiP i 118; 9 ° .01 11 a el Ct n ori ,ed at so. ;, do t I to do o fi (9 10 ° is in t he n t In a bad 0 t be i n to go i, He i(o big - b r ow t 0 0 Poi e o i" Of ',be t r bop et 00 no 0 6 iVe 1 Of Well I t o. peg ib inn ) 10004 0 0, TlC l°9 ° f Cr fla rl d puntris Al 0 RNINC; EDITION kIEItICAN snips « PANAMA" AND " KOSCIUSKO." The Indian papers contain at l iengtli the correspon dence betwerr, the merchants at Macao and Sir J. J. IGio.eßk,riecimv • ,TreLfve to the r e i ease o f these vessels from he first letter Tnerely contains the ques tions P'at by the merchants, as to xvhether the Chinese Wr°(l'uce on board the ships was. liable to seizure. I/ette ro this Si r J . J . Bremer replied in the following gr :-- " Her Majesty's F:dip Wellesley, Chuenpee, Dec ember 25, 1540. cr "TO MXSSRS, B ELL AND CO., MACAO. Gentlemer, —ln reply to your letter of the 19th Instant b ey;lenter -- i i : t(; : ,ho leave to remark, that it is unnecessary to general criestions you have proposed ; i 'ma'e info rm y ou , shat t h e l ate C ommander- i n- Chier it br.d fo rme d art opinion (upo n th e s p ec i a l eircum 'n 4 7 of th e casa ) that the egress o f t h e two A mer i can ,e shah l P 4- now i n t h e river would not su bj ec t t h em t o se i zure . Excell enc y f oun d upon i oqufry that both these b e' tore h a d b ean for some weeks or days in Macao roads tore the arrival of the expedition on the coast of l'hina, and that their application for permission to enter t-the port had been baffled by entirely unusual trammels of the Chinese Government, arising out of the disturbed state of affairs. The Admiral, therefore consilering it a reasonable presumption the; these ships might either have left the Port with cargo, or been actually leafing at the period of the notice of blockade, if they bad not been subject Ito these unusual difficulties, did not intend to obstruct rtheir egress, and in the justice ot that determination I "'concur. , " Thinki ng t h at i t may be a convenience to you to now the grouads upon wlech his Excellency's opinions Were founded, I have. been led to step aside from my t lattel practice us su i ernitting them for your perusal. But 7°ll Will give me ',cave particularly to request that these f et aalunications. ma y not b e pu bli s h e d, as not hi ng can se More ernba'rrassing than the publication of the views at a person i.a my station upon points of blockade law et practice.. It. ;3 my duty to dispose of practical cases iAS they petsent. - themselves according to the best of my iidgmeve, but your own opinions will be your more tt Initahle. guide . on any qu.st i ons of the ki n d now proposed ` 4 's. I hale: the honour, sze., " J. J. GORDON BREMER, - ea ," Commodore First Class, Commander-in-Chief." Vhe inerchantu then sent the following letter, stating e opinion as to the law of the case nts EXCELLENCY SIR J. J. GORDON B REMER zet -Gi vr ,, C. - 13., K. C H., NAVAL COMMANDER-IN &C. r Excellency's letter of the 25th in.sl. to lthe riddle-of Messrs. 13-11 and aving 13.:cat placed e , TON 'JS, th a undersigned British mercnents, we take Pb , erty of addressing your Excellency on the subjece e "By the la w of Ilockade, as laid down by the 'p ee k of Chitty, we find it. declared, that, " ' The receipt o f the not ifi cat i on w ill r,ot peevent a IleU tral, who at the time of receiving it. is lying in the /e n port blockaded, from retiring ireely ; and it has "'en been laid dow a in the case et tbre• Betsey, that he t i nitY retire with a cargo which '„, may already have den, and which has thereby become actually neutral Property ; the. di stinetior . acing that he is not at liberty Fr make ar gy freefe purchase after the notification. bill ho the c ase O. the Rolla it a pp ears th a t th e G aul t id evet'y cargo to b e f res h purchase which was -101 ▪ del' reset( previou s ly t o th e notification either on ,r° '.be netie;ral ship itself, or in lighters.' And ag a i n , as A block ado i s broken as completely by corning out e by going i n . There may be instanc es , i n d ee d, o f 11Thocent egress,' said Si r W i ll iam S cott, i n t h e case o f he Frederick Mollie-1 instances wh ere th e vesse l s h ave gone in before the blockade ; and, under such eir ,bostances, it er,uld not be maintained that they might net b e at liberty to r e ti re . B u t t h e utmost that cats be 'lifted to a neutral vessel is, that, having already taken be hoard a cat , go before the blockade begins, she may • at liberty to retie with it. But it must be consi ered as a rale, which this Court means to apply, that antral ships de , parting can only take away a cargo 9°44 fide purchased and delivered before the commence- I nlet of the blockade.' " This doctrine we find fully confirmed, and acted N'oe by the British Government in the recent blockade l e the rti o Pl i.ta. The following repert from au Eng * nap•er is ex t rac t e d f r o m th e C an t on P ress o f t h e th of Jun . e last : Palmerston, at the instance of merchants dto d tc, the Rio Plata, took the opinion of the Crown , tt ve offir,ers as to the law in cases of vessels coming out 4 blo ckaded port with cargo. Their answer i s — F•y the general law of nations, vessels are not Wel to come out of a blockaded port with cargo, tl .. iess such cargo was on board before th e commence 'eat of the blockade.' In tb.e letter to Messrs. Bell and Co., we find it etttecl that the late Commander-in-Chief had formed ‘4 °Pin'son, io which you concur, upon the special cir tket ences of the case, that the egress of the two 4 terican ships now i n th e r i ver wou ld no t su bj ect • ntt to seizure, and the reasons given are : e s " That they had b een f or some wee k s or d ays i n Zsaesso roads before the arrival of the expedition on :ae coast of China, and that their application for leave outer lied been baffi.ol by entirely unusual trammels Of the Chinese Government, arising out of the dis tal/bed state of affairs.' " We beg leave, with reference to these reasons to 'Point out to your Excellency that the ship Panama 'iced in Macao road.s on the 19th of June, three : I Yo previous to your Excellency's notice of the block ; and that this',hip could only have succeeded in ‘ntaining entry in so short a period by very unusual facilities afforded, by the Chinese, arising from the fact si the blocka?,e being declared. a ' The ofeer ship, Kosciusko, formerly the English 1 P Malc•Atn, and afterwards sailing under the American as . .ne Alabama, had repeatedly been refused entry lnu port, on th e groun d ( no t or i ous l y a t rue one ), .'"at her cargo had been taken on board at the outer 4tehorages, in direct violation of the existing regulations 111 the port of Canton, which required ships to bring podshowing their cargo to ha ve b een b ona fide ship• l'ed at some foreign port. " We therefore submit to your Excellency, that the reasons given for the egress of these vessels appear to be founded upon erroneous assumptions, or iuforma ; but we may at the same time point out, that even fe e l they been substantially true, we apprehend the lew 1 . 1 b lockade to be so clear and decisive on the particular 7 111 ,t, that no such circumstances would, in law or in ef t'tY, justify the egress of two vessels for the especial evestage of the parties interested and to the injury of ""r4ers. ~" \Ve b eg t o ass ure you r E xce ll ency , not on l y t h at t,be tees with which these ships are loaded, could not have e en purchased at the period the blockad e wa s de c l are d, t l t that f rom our k now l e d ge o f th e c i rcumstances con 'eted with the Canton market, we may confidently Illett that none of the teas could have reached Canton 11 1 14 4 several etcetera subsequently, and that part of them ‘ 4 4 very probably not et ea b e en a t th a t time manufae ared ; and that the whole has been bought within the lilt fortnight. " We consider it also a duty we owe alike to our- I l ebres as B r i t i s h merc h ants, an d to t h e i nterest of dis 2s" Parties whom we represent, to protest most solemnly .1 14 isst the secrecy of the arran g ement s f or a ll ow i ng th e let ter, of th ese vesse l s ; f or we fi n d by your E xce l lency ' s that the intention was known to the parties con ed prior to the departure of the Admiral, although Z bo one else ; thus affording them advantages, to the 'tintis injury of many others. " It is further our duty to sate, with every respect Your Excellency, that should the egress of these t r° vessels be allowed, we shall feel ourse:ves impera- CeelY called on to make a formal protest (and which wye b r eby do), against the losses or damages all or any of 1 - k e have sustained, or may sustain, in consequence of : k e irregularity ot the blockade, and against any losses ', j ell may arise after its infraction by such illegal egress. -` Our letter will be banded to your Excel envy by a eDutation, which will wait upon your Excellency for t Purpose. We have the honour to be, &c., • e aJENT AND CO. " DANIEL AND CO. JAMIESON AND HOW. DIROM AND CO. M'VICAR AND CO. FOX, RAWSON, AND LINDSAY AND CO. CO. BELL A N D C O . WILKINSON DEN T ." ~ e 'the next leter from the merchants enclosed a vit . 11 ' 1 "Y of d ocumen t s corro b ora ti ve o f the facts and argu etlts of their ca s e, f r om whi c h they draw the following b ' -t leral results hWe beg, however, respe c tfully to submit to your teell etey that the law of blockade clearly declares t t el eao vessel can leave port with cargo unless it is ac itt9Y bou g ht and on board th e s hi p or li g ht ers p r ior to i tl ockad e commencing ; and it appears by the forego 4:,,Paners no t only that the cargoes o f th e Panama but 4 Kosci us k o can not come u n d er suc h designation, te the teas of which these cargoes consist w e r e uct h C anton in Jur.e last, and were, in fact, only pur ed during the present month. h: Furth er , t ee vesse ls in question d o no t appear to eje wished to exerc i se their right to come out with b" enrgoe s , b ut h ave re mained in port f rom J une to e f ee enabe r ; and as they entered with a full knowledge th e a bl oc k a d e b e i ng d ec l are d an d o f t h e c ! esr l aw on oi .x . Point o f egress, t h e owners canno t, we submit, corn• * q t !' of the operation of a law to which they voluntarily J %eted th emse l ves . d 4 we submit th ese p a p ers to your Er ellency, i n e et to Prove, that equitably these tent o vessels cannot th . a privil ege o f carry i ng out valuable B Pecial be ne fit, w h i l st many ships which entered te s i v P°rt previously were compelled to retire from it ta i Partially loaded, in consequence o f the bloc kade 4 4 44 effect before their cargoes could be completed ; dii i :hilbt many other vessel=, which arrived imrnF time"? aft erwar d s, h ave been compelled to remain e Alla l ue, at h eavy loss to the owners, from the same a, biz kb. ' y en Were the circumstances diff eren t, w e resceet ths e. : ke leave again to p o int ou t to y our E xce ll enc y, - i . th e l aw of bl oc k a d e i s c l ear an d prec i se aga i nst t h e !v elvet wi til WO under any such circumstances ; but in these cases it will doubtless be satisfactory to your Excellency to find, that the law wad equity render it elike inexpedient that they should be relieved from the . operation of a well-recogrizcd principle." In his reply to this communication, dated December 29, Sir J. J. G. Bremer enclosed a letter received from . the Plenipotentiary, dated on the same day, calling particular attention to the paragraph in which Captain Elliot objects to the publication of the correspondence during the blockade. As Captain Elliot's letter con tains the whole case from the point of view according to which the egress of two vessels is justifiable, it is ne• cessary to give it in full, notwithstanding its length : " Her Majesty's ship Wellesley, Chuenpee, Dec. 29. "TO HIS EXCELLENCY COMMODORE SIR J. J. BREMER, KNIGHT, C.B , K.C.H., COMMANDER-IN•CHIEF, &C. " Sir,—l have given my best attention to the letter you have been so good as to hand me, signed by certain British merchants at Macao, niacin the subject of the egress of the two American ships Kosciusko and Pa nama, and I take the liberty to trouble you with some observations in support of my earnest request and ad vice that they may be permitted to pass unobstructed. " My reasons for earnestly suegcsting this course are so independent of the main body of allegation and ar gument pre:sed by those gentlemen, that I am relieved from the task of touching it at all. " These two ships passed within the Bogue before the establishment of the blockade, and I must now beg leave to call your attention to some observations re•- specting the character and effect of the blockade itself, for it is upon that general consideration that my own views are founded. " In the first place, it will be remembered that the whole foreign trade with China is carried on through the port of Canton, and therefore as far as that part of a blockade of that port be considered, the chief pur pose was to press the Government by the loss of the heavy shipping duties. The more stringent inten tions of distressing an enemy, of cutting off and de stroying the coasting trade, depriving him of sup plies, &c., were not suseeptills of execution without such a pressure of misery upon the people as her Ma jesty's Government never inflict till the obstinate in justice of the Court should render extremities necess. sary, and I must be permitted to add, that no such exs treme exercise of blockade rights is at all necessary to give legal effect to purposes of less urgent blockade pressure. " I certa;cly cannot help feeling that the ytwo foreign ships in the port, both of which '..,ntcred before the establishment of the blockad , „ six months since, have the - and have lain there dcrongest claim to conside ra-„ion, always if it can oe established upon oath that no part of their cargoes is the property of natives in China ; hei t .:uer should I ever have presumed to submit such a .;laim to the Commander-in-Chief, if it were not iy.'..d'isputable that he had a strict legal right under par ticular circumstances in a general and equal way to relax principles perfectly sound of themselves; for it is not indulgence per se that is vicious in blockade practice, but a capricious indulgence, relaxing in one case, and restricting in another of the Lke nature. " Looking at the situation of circumstances and the peculiar character of this trade, I was strongly disposed when you announced the blockade, to request you to make special provision "for the safe passage out of all ships actua , ly within the port at its establishment ; but it occurred to me that you would rather wish to promul gate it simply, and to leave to the commander of the blockading force his perfectly just and usually exercised right of considering particular cases as they presented themselves. I may briefly remark here in reply to a considerable portion of the letter of these gentlemen, that the advantage of the egress of these ships t') the parties concerned could never enter into the considera tion of the late Commander-in-Chief, or into your own, or into mine. "It was looked at entirely as a question of fair claim, without reference to profit or loss to any parties whatever, and the disadvantage of their egress to persons not in the same situation has no relation to the matter in hand ; for it may he taken for granted that what the Naval Commander-in-Chief could publicly do in behalf gf one individual would have been done for any other in the like case. It would be no becoming or likely motive with me for urging, or with the Commander-in-Chief for resisting, what was felt to be a fair claim, that the proper relief of one per son was a disadvantage to another not in the same situ ation. Another, and a very remarkable cause of consi deration remains to be stated : " Macao, with a very large China and foreign popula tion, is in a great degree dependent on Canton and the towns of the inner passage, if not for actual subsist eace, assuredly entirely for comtort and convenience. This circumstance made it an act of necessity to leave open the inner passage, which, it should be said, is only a boat passage, and might therefore be done without da mage to the general stringency of the blockade. Any other course would have cast extreme distress upon the Portuguese settlement, the neutrality of which we pro fessed to respect, and where all the foreign community were seeking refuge. " But the venality of the Chinese officers, the trading' spirit of the people, and the perfectly justifiable readi ness of the merchants to prosecute their business in every way they could, produced the natural conse quences of an extensive smuggling trade in small native craft passing by channels impracticable for ships. The result is an extensive trade at the port of Macao, both inwards and out, in all manner of ships, British and American, &e. ; neither do I for one moment pretend that it is justifiable, or indeed possible, to interfere with a trade carried on through Macao, however certain it may be that the produce is smuggled into, and down from .Canton. But 1 certainly do contend that its unavoidable ex istence furnishes the strongest reason for placing these two ships at liberty. We arc able to stop ingress of the foreign shipping at Canton, and it is a just and ne cessary right to exercise ; but we are not able to prevent a smuggling trade by numerous boat passages, which gradually releases the ships at the outer anchorages. " The Admiral concurred in my representation (founded upon this state of circumstances) that it was no more than an act of justice to place these two ships of a friendly power at liberty, when it could be done without damage to the main public and practicable pur poses of the blockade. " Upon my return from the northward, I was ad dressed in a private way by Mr. Delano, holding, I be lieve, Consular authority from the Government of the United States. He said he had been unwillinc , to trouble the naval officer on the spot, in the absence of the Com- . _ mander-in-Chief, but he certainly thought chat the whole bearing of circumstances gave the matter a power ful claim to lenient treatment, and he hoped that upon full consideration I would 1-ee it in the same light, and do what I could to recommend it to the Admirel's ft vourable disposal. " My own mind had long been made up on the pro priety of permitting the egress of these two ships, and I laid the ground of my general reasoning before the late Commander-in-Chief, who concurred with me, and au- thorised me to say that he would not oppose the egress of the ships, if declaration were made that the cargoes were not. native property. " These are the circumstances, Sir, under which these ships have come down the river, and kindly con siderate as you have always been of the difficulties of my public position, I am sure you will not place me, as the representative of the country in the distressing situation before the Government with which I am ne- gotiating, and before the whole foreign community, of having Lallaciously induced the belief that the passage out of the ships was certain. "It cannot be too frequently insisted that as yet the motive of a blockade of the port of Canton by the ship channels is completely achieved, whilst ingress is prevented, and the Government is pressed by the de privations of the shipping duties and the stagnation of employment at Canton ; further pressure in the way of blockade is a matter which your Excellency will deter mine upon or not as you may see fit, if hostilities un happily ensue between the two countries ; but to the extent and for the objects that the blockade was esta blished it has always been stead.ly pursued ; and, whilst affairs remain in the present attitude, I should be the very last person to advise it should be relaxed. " The egress, however, of these two ships (the only two in the port) has no connexion with those objects, and under all the considerations I have noticed will, I am persuaded, appear to her Majesty's Government to be no more than a suitable act of friendly respect to - - the flag of the United States. " I need not say t, your Excellency that I do not shrink from the re3ponsiuil ty of counstlling and re questing this measure. And I consider it only due to you to add, that I can offer no objection to the trans mission of this letter to the gentlemen who have ad- dressed you upon the sub ject, it you are so good as to accede to my regitsst—a request I make to you in my public character, and in the persuasion that the mea sure is just and suitable upon public grounds; for it has never been the practice of the British Government to exercise blockade rights with the least degree of un- necessary harshness. Whilst I have no pretension or disposition to gainsay the unquestionable right of the merchants to remonstrat?, and complain whenever they consider themselves aggrieved, I certainly will permit myself to observe that it were to be wished a reason able latitude should be given them for the general in- terests upon a view of genera) consideration;. Abo all, it is to be hoped that the highly respectable gentle men who !Jaye signed the letter of the 26th instant will at legit refrain from publishing this correspondence, whilst it may be necessary to continue the blockade. " They will always find their remedy by representa tion to England ; and the publication of the corres pondence at present can serve no other purpose than to embarrass the Government and officers of their country, net because there is the least difficulty in jus tifying what has been done, but because it is in the highest degree inconvenient to be driven into the dis cussion of public measures during their progress. " It has happened to me in the execution of my duty in China, to stand between the merchants and very grave difficulties, and upon public grounds I consider myself entitled to expect that they will refrain from a course of proceeding which would be mischievous to the well understood interests of the country. " The alleged wrongs and injuries that may have been cast upon them can ba duly investigated and redressed without disturbing the public interest. " I hare the bonen!' t'o be, &c., " C. ELLIOT, her Majesty's Plenipotentiary." The I aSt letter is one from the merchants., dated January 1, in which they state that their opielOtis arc unchanged, that they renew their protest against the whole proceedings, and that though they will not, as requested, publish the correspondence in China, they will lose no time in publishing it elsewhere, and request that Sir G. J. Bremer will forward copies ef ail the documents to the Ministers,. THE SUN, LOIND.)N. TIRTRSDAY, APRIL 15, 1841. THE !SLAM) OF HONG.KONG. --- Dr. Clarke Abel, in his Narrative of a Journey to China, gives the following account of this island :—Sail ing with the Amherst Embassy in 1816, the squadron, on the evening of the 12th of June, weighed, and stood for Hong Kong, which is one of the Lidrone Islands, cisteat from the great Lemma 16 miles in a N.E. direction. Looking from the deck of the Alceste curly on the following morning, I found that we were in a sound formed by some small islands, by which it was land locked in every direction, and of which :Hong-kong is the principal. As seen from the ship teis island was chiefly remarkable for its high conical mountains, rising in the centre, and for a beautiful cascade, which rolled over a fine blue rock into the sea. I took advantage of the first watering-beat to visit the shore, and made one of these mountains And the waterfall the principal ob jects of my visit. This mountain, the highest on the island, is, ac cording to Captain Ross, who has measured it, about fifteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, and is eettrinsed of trap, approaching to basalt in the teattipactness of its structure. In ascend. ins it, I followed the course of a delightful stream, which rises near its summit, and found by its side a number of interesting plants; The general surface of the mountain; and indeed every part of the island of Hong-kent, that I was able to visit, is remarkably barren ) although in the distance it appears fertile. Wa's unable to reach the summit of the mountain, in consequence of the excessive heat, which, at eight o'clock in the morning, raised the thermo meter in the shade to 83 degrees, whilst tile sun's rays, to which I necessarily exposed myself, darted through an unclouded atmosphere with an almost intolerable effect, and raised the quicksilver to 120 degrees. I ascended about 1,000 feet, and returned by a path which passed over a small hill, or rather mound, differing in structure from all the rocks in its neighbourhood, being com posed of a very friable stone of reddish white colour much resembling disintegrated felspar. Its scenery is composed of barren rocks, deep ravines, and mountain torrents, but presents few characters of a very picturesque description. Of its inhabitants, none were seen but some poor and weather-beaten fishermen, spreading their nets, and drying the produce cf their toils on the rocks which supported their miser able mud huts. Its cultivation corresponded with the apparent state and number of its population. Patches of rice, small plantations of yams, and a little buck wheat, were all their visible means of vegetable support. The typhoons, which sweep over the island et this season, are sometimes tremendous. The height of the barometer varied very little during our stay at Hong• Kong, but the thermometer and hygrometer ur derwent frequent changes. The most ancient Spanish geographers speak meanly of Hong-kong, in common with the other islands of the cluster. It produces, however, they allow, fruits, salad, and a variety of wholesome herbs, in fair quantity ; but that it has no beasts, and of birds only one kind. The inhabitants were few and miserable ; but they ap peared, if their original stock may be guessed at, to be of the same stock as the Philippines. (By the Author of " The Chinese as they Arc." The island of Hong-kong is about ten miles in length, and nearly that distance in its greatest breadth. It is of an irregular shape, and withdraws into two or three half sheltered harbours on the southern side. But that which is, by way of emphasis, the Harbour of Kong, is formed by this island as it stretches in length from east to west, and the main land of China. This is a magnificent harbour in extent and diversity of out line, securely sheltered by lofty bills, and well deserves that distinction which has been given to it. The ships usually anchor in about ten fathoms water, but there is a deep bight in the mainland, rece di ng a b out t wo miles and a half towards the north, which is about a mile and a half, or somewhat more, in breadth, where the depth of water varies from three to five fathoms. As this inner harbour, as we may call it for the sake of clearness and perspicuity, is completely landlocked, it resembles a beautiful lake, surrounded by many a ridgy height and some towering peaks of steep and rugged as cent. At the top of this inner harbour stands the vil lage of Coroloon, which recently gained some celebrity by a skirmish between Captain Elliot and the Chinese' cruisers, but which has been long known to naval men by the great civility and kindness of its inhabitants to wards the foreigner. From the harbour of Hong-kong there is a passage to the eastward about half a mile in breadth, where in some places there is twenty-five fathoms water; but as this course is rather intricate, and requires a variety of winds to make it an easy one, ships proceeding to the north prefer a sweep round the island of Hong-kong, and dropping down the Lama channel to steer southward and eastward till they emerge into the China sea. The harbour of Hong-kong is famed among foreign residents in China for its extreme healthiness ; and many a sojourner at Macao, after trying what medicine and exercise could do for him there, has at length repaired to Hong-kung and found what he had so long sought for in vain. The writer of these remarks, while at the place last men tioned in the spring of 1838, made full proof of physic, diet, rest, and light excursions, but discovered that be was growing weaker, instead of improving, under this treatment. Just at the time when slope began to give place to despair, an American Captain invited him to take a trip to Hong-kong ; the invitation was ac cepted, and after a lapse of a fortnight he was so in vigorated by the breez:s of that delectable place, that he went to Canton and worked through a summer of unusual sultriness. Thus much may be said in re ference to the healthiness of this piece of newly-acquired territory. The island of Hong-kong may be described as a huge pile of ragged hills, which here and there start up into precipitous peaks. It is barren and intractable in its aspect, especially when compared with those rich scenes which meet the eye in the Straits of Sunda. But this barrenness is relative, for the slopes are covered with a hardy kind of grass, except in spots where the soil has been sifted by an avalanche or the rock broken into an escarpment by volcanic action. The naked and unpro ductive character of the hills in the southera parts of China the writer had been led to ascribe to the meagre and hungry nature of the soil, as the rock from which it is produced is a hard sort of granite, yielding but little clay as a material for • the sub-soil ; when, however, he visited Hong-kong, and found it mainly composed of trap, in which clay is abundant, he began to feel it necessary to modify the opinion which he had formerly entertained. The barren aspect assumed by the projecting points and angles of Hong-kong, or rather the want of trees to clothe and decorate them, must be ascribed to the north-east wind, which blows with such a keen and biting edge, that few trees, save the Pinus Linens's, which resembles our Scotch fir, can en dure it. This pine, though very abundant upon many parts of Heang Shaw, the island of which the peninsula of Macao forms a part, is not plentiful in all parts of Hong-kong, and seams to shun the shelving sides of that island. If, however, those parts which first offer themselves to the ken of the sea faring man from afar, are uninviting because the wind is adverse to vegetation, we ought to look for something better in quarters defended from its influence ; and in this expectation we shall not be disappointed, for the valleys exhibit a beautiful contrast to the hills. If we land, for example, at the cascade on the southern side of the island, after climbing up about sixty feet over ledges of trap, covered with a curious white crust and spit into a diversity of configurations, we find ourselves in a luxuriant and romantic vale, sometimes walled in with steep sides, at others expanding into little plains for the cultivation of rice and vegetables. In one of these vales, about. two miles from the waterfag, we meet with a small village, where the inhabitants are poor in their appearance, which is no great marvel, since it is commerce, and not agriculture, unless aided by com merce, which makes a people rich. 'rho author of these remarks hurried by this village with the best speed he was master of, that he might have time to trace the stream of water to its sources, and get a view of the other side of the island from the summit of the ridge. This stream separated into two branches, each of which ran towards a high peak. His haste did not allow him to form a proper estimate of the number of inhabitants who called this village their home, as he was afterwards surprised to tea a large group of females descending from the hills, whither they had been either to cut grass or to till some fa voured spot amid the varieties of hill and dale.. Few Europeans would prefer a residence in this valley, but it would form a most delightful place for an excursion. If a boat started from Hong-kong harbour early in the morning, it would reacts this valley in time to allow the passengers six or even eight hours for a pic-nic upan the shore, and then return by the time the sun had descended below the verge of the western horizon. In a withdrawing nook, in what we may call, in the landsman's phrase, the further corner of the harbour of Hongkong, there is a small delta and a very charming valley, in which the former terminates. On this delta, fairly " embosomed in tufted trees," stands a small village, inhabited by persons who arc not wealthy, but not so poor but that some had delicacies which had been brought from Macao, and to which they bade the writer a most hearty welcome. Several of them could read, and a man, to whom a copy of the New Testament was given, seemed to be a person of intelligence, though his daily cares were parted berween his fishery and his farm. This shelter is nearly an equilateral triangle, each side being about one-fourth of a mile in length. It terminates in a very pleasant (lei], where shrubs anti pl4nts grow in gr.at prauslon: After pas Sing anotii tt Mile along this dell we find ourselves in a bread valley 'flanked by hills, adOwn WhOie SoMbre and fastening side's the water falls in . r4reShimir :tretifis! ei•C‘ we meei ivih ciwiAling-houses and outbuildings for the stowage of grain. It is entirely rural in all its aspects, and exhibits the counterparts of grange and farm in mi niature. Ti e writer found the villagers kind grid inqui sitive, though at the first they were very much surprised at tlie ilnusual, if not the first, appearance of an Eu ropean in that valley. The deft land the valley beyond it would prove very desirable country residences for the sojourners at Hong-kone harbour, it may be remarked, onctl for all, that a considerable portion of the island is of the trap formation, which abounds with escarpments wherever it is met with ; hence the common occurrence of waterfalls. Granite occurs with it in Hong-kong, and there is an enormous block in the delta which rests upon several other lesser blocks, as if art, not nature, had been concerned in giving it a station. The highest part of the island has two or three lofty peaks, which is another feature very closely connected with the trap formation. and tolerd)ly even s l ope, I3Aween the an c h orage an d t h e d e l ta th ere i s a w id e which is kid out in cultivated fields and ga r d ens . I t ascends for a good d i stance to wards the medial ridge of the island, but at length ends in a curious glen, on the borders of which huge boulders lie strewed in the wildest confusion, while all the inter spaees are fi led up with vegetation in a high stats of luxuriar ce. On this slope foreigners might find build ing plots after having pensioned off the present tenants of the soil, who would be glad to exchange their scanty [mle of living for one of greater amplitude. In the arrangement lately made with the Cainese,the harbour of Hong-kong is expressly mentioned as a part of the indemnity for the wrongs which that people have inflicted upon us. Whether that part of the Cnincse territory which intervenes between a range of hills and the margin of the land forming the northern side of the harbour be comprehended in the minds of those who termed this treaty, it would not be eisy to con jecture. A practical cession, lion ever, of that portion of the mainland will be the result of a settlement, whether Captain Elliot and his friend Keshen thought of it or not. This region is very desirable as a locality, since it is composed of plains, hills, glens, and valleys, interchanging in a most agreeable variety. In this place arc stones and excellent granite for building and paving, which, as labour is cheap in China, may be had on easy terms. To this place Chinese merchants, who traverse their own empire in quest of speculatioLs, would Hock from all quarters, and thus, in a little time, give rise to an emporium, which, for great commercial transactions, might rival even Ningpo or Han-chow. The Tartar authorities would find fault with this, but that would be a matter of no consequence, as it is our business to command, theirs to obey. The policy of the Tartars, so successful sometimes in little things, but so mise rably deficient in matters of any magnitude, will 8000 give us not pretexts, but cogent reasons for advancing upon the Chinese territory, and of taking care that Lin, Kei,hen, and the rest of the hypocritical brood of di plomatists, shall not for the time to come starve, poison, kidnap and cajole British subjects for their own pastime and amusement. W ',ether floncr-kung be worth our acceptance, as an equivalent for the injuries sustained by our commerce, time, that unfolds error, will prove. There is no rea son why we should be very anxious about it ; if a man of spirit and sagacity be appointed to govern the new settlement, he will find ample means and most season able opportunities for consulting the mercantile interests as well as the honour of this country. If the island is not la-ge enough, he will find plenty of room upon the main ; if Chriese custom•house officers come to levy inconvenient duties, or to impede the current of busi ness, he can dismiss them at the shortest notice ; and if Government cruisers prowl about and harrass the poor native in his progress to the settlement, they may be sent to the bottom of the sea with the least possible amount of labour on our part. And lastly, should not this be found an eligible situation after all, we can adopt another ; who will say us nay ? COURT MARTIAL IN INDIA FIVE NATIVES PUT TO DEATH BY A BRITISH OFFICER WITHOUT TRIAL. Head-Quarters, Bombay, March 24, 1840. At a General Court Martial, assembled in canton ment near Poona, on Monday, the 30th day of December, 1839. and of which Major G. Browne, of her Majesty's 41st Regiment, is present ; Lieut. William Gibbard, of the 16,h Regiment Native Infantry, was tried on the following, charge, viz.:— For highly irregular conduct, most disgraceful to the character and reputation of an officer, in having, be twixt the 22d and 31st of December, 1838, at or neat the village of Kowtannee, within the State of Sawant Wares, when in command of a detachment of troops on duty there, atrociously caused five persons, who had been taken prisoners by a party of irregular troops under his command, to be summarily put to death, by being shot, without due authority and warrant for so doing. Adjutant General's Office, Bombay, 27th Sept., 1839. By order of the Commander of the Forces. (Signed) STRATFORD POWELL, Lieut.-Col. Adjt. Gen. of the Army. Upon which charge the Court came to the following decision : Finding.—The Court having maturely weighed and considered what has been adduced in support of the prosecution, together with what the prisoner Lieutenant William Gibbard, of the 16th Regiment Native In fantry, has brought forward on his defence, is of opinion that he is guilty of the charge preferred against him, with the exception of the word " atrociously," and that " four" instead of "five" prisoners, as therein specified, were put to death. Sentence.--The Court having found the prisoner guilty, as above specified, doth adjudge him, Lieutermat William Gibbard, to be dismissed the Honourable Company's service. (&gued) W. OGILVIE, Major, Judge Advocate General. (Signed) G. BROWNE, Major and President. Approved and Confirmed, (Signed) THOMAS M'MAHON, Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-Cuicf. RECOMMENDATION OF THE COURT. lla%ing thus performed its painful duty, the Court is anxious to bring to the notice of the Commander of the Forces, some circumstances of an extenuating na ture, which authorise its recommending the prisoner to his favourable consideration, viz., the extraordinary or ders he received from the Political Superintendent of the Sawant Werree State, the evident conviction that he was acting in strict conformity with those orders ; the approbation which he sought and received from the Polit cal Superintendent (under whose orders he acted), from his own immediate Commanding Officer, and those with whom he associated, his youth, the activity and zeal he has frequently displayed, both prior to, and sub sequent to, the 24th of December, 1838, and, finally, the high character he has received for humanity and gentleness towards the natives generally. The above reasons lead the Court to believe that the lamentable error he has fallen into was one of judgment. only, and therefore to recommend to the favourable consideration of the Commander of the Forces, feeling assured that the experience he has so dearly earned is sufficient security against a recurrence of such a misfortune. (Signed) G. BROWNE, Major and President. REMARKS BY THE COMMANDER IN-CHIEF. The trial in the above case was closed previously to my assuming command of the army of this Presidency, but circumstances have thrown on me the painful duty of confirming the finding and sentence, and it is with deep regret I observe, that the proceedings develop matter which make it impossible for me to accede to the recommendation of the Court, or in any way avoid giving full effect to the award. I am further concerned to remark, that evidence recorded in the case imperatively demands that pro ceedings shall be adopted towards another officer, that he may have an opportunity of clearing his conduct, or that the ends of justice, and the interest of the public service, may be vindicated. (Signed) THOMAS M'MAHON, Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-Chief. The name of Lieutenant William Gibbard is to be struck off the strength of the army from this date. THE FRENCH STAGE AND THE FRENCH PEOPLE, EDITED BY THEODORE HOOK, ESQ.—Our English works on the: Stage are In general but meagre and sorry productiqrs, for the lives and memoirs of English actors relate chiefly to sayings and doings amon gs t t h e m s el v es. Far different is the case in Franca ; for there the memoirs of a closer actor introduce the reader to Courts, to poli tical characters, high and low, to men the most eminent in literature, arts, and science, and abundantly t o l a di e s and gentlemen of fashion, constituting the beau monde—and here is a case in point ; for we hav e an exce llent book be ige us—replete with wit, humour, life, and character, with inimitable anecdotes, combining to form a history of very remarkable persons, who lived in an age as remark able. M. Fleury, the author of these admirable memoirs, was distinguisce4 by his performance of Voltaire's cha racter., and in the Court of that reigning Monarch of wit, genius. learning, and of everything connected with emi nence in literature, and all intellectual pursuits, be became soon introduced into the society of all that was gay and rich, distinguished, titled, talented, and profligate at Paris. His volumes are full of highly entertaining matter—of twee. totes (f the greatest variety and interest. —Dispatch. During the formation of the dams for the bridge about to be erected at Springfield, fur the Eastern Coun ties Railway, the workmen discovered a large number of horns, seven or eight feat below the bed of the river. They consisted of a fragment of a stag's burn, a goat's horns, with a portion of the skull, small horns of an ox or ram, and many others of a similar charreter. A curious knife was also found : it is 1 ft. 4 in. long ; the blade , which is 10 in. in length, and sharp at the edge, being curved like a woodman's bill. These relics of a former age arc all in a good state of preservation ; and by some are supposed to be the remains of a Roman sacrifice. — Essen Herald. The Queen has been pleased to order 2001. to be given to the poor of the parish of West Pennard, where the monster cheese was made. REVIEW OF EASTERN NEWS Proni the Asiatic .16urn7f — or April, puir!ishccil 12th Instant.) Our files of paol7§ by tile April overland msil arc to the toiloWirig ddtes :—Caldtitte ianOdary 186; Madras,: Feb: 20th; Bombay ; M arc h Ist; and China; Feb. 2lf: As we anticipated last month, the state of affiiirs has im proved under the management of Commodore Bremer. The Chinese Imparizil Commissioner, in pursuance of the policy which had succeeded in removing the fleet from an in inconvenient proximity to Peking, dommanced a system of procrastination at Canton, which our Plenipotentiary tamely suffefed to continua for nearly three weeks, wheel he thought proper to transfer the conduct of the negotia tions to the mere capable and energetic hods of Sir Gor don Bremer. That officer, without loss of tin:, made vigorous arrangements, by which, with vary trifling loss oil our side, the Chinese forts were placed in our possession, and the Chinese Commander-in Chief, in conjunction with Commissioner Keshen, agreed to preliminary stipulations, a measure which ought to have preceded the departure of the British squadron from the Pih-hr. These stipulations were necessarily arranged between the Chinese authori ties and the British Plenipotentiary ; and he-e the con spicuous want of judgment of the latter became again ap parent, in consenting to terms so far below those which it was in his power to have exacte 3, and which afford to the Chinese negotiators means of procrastination which they did not possess. These terms are, first, " the egssion of the island and harbour of [long Kong to the British Crown ; all just charges and duties to the empire upon the ecffirrlPrce carried on there to be paid as if ne trade were condtid:ed at Whampoa." Now this cession is worth comparatively little. " Chuaan," as one of the Canton papers obscrv?s, " would have cost us nothing, for a very light impost on the trade would very soon have paid every expense ; Kong Kong. on the emtrary, will be a most expensive establish. ment for no object. It can have no revenue, .for thfat is to be given up to the Chinese ! It can scarcely have any trade, for the regular trade can be conducted better and cheaper at Canton, and the smugglers will have no in ducement to go to Hong Kong, when subject to Chinese revenue laws. It might, no doubt, have been made an em porium for British commerce, had a stipulation been made that Chinese vessels and merohant3 of all places might come and freely trade there, and that no hindrance of any kind shnuld be given to such a trade by the Chinese autho rities; but as the foreign trade is to be restored to its former tooting, the Hongs will still possess the monopoly." The next stipulation is "an indemnity to the British Government of 6,000,000 dollars, 1,000,000 payable at once, and the remainder in equal annual instalments, ending in 1846." The whole of this "indemnity," if realized, will not cover one-half the cost of the expedi- ,ion. The third stipulation, that there shall be " direct official intercourse between the countries, von an equal fioting," is the only one of any value. Then follows " Details remain ma•tcr of negotiation." Nothing is said of the opium trade; no:hing of any indemrification for the loss of the surrendered opium, or of any commercial facilities, or reduction of charges, or mitigation of the restraints upon Europeans in China ; nothing is said of the indignity supposed to have been offered to the rcprc!enca tive of the Queen, one of the !mime grounds of the war ; moreover, it is objected to Captain Elliot, that by check ing the Commodore in his career, and not following up the success at the two minor forts of Chnenpec and Ty kok-tow by the capture of the more important fort of Anunghoy, he has, in fact, induced the Chinese to belicve that the strength of the latter made him fear the result of an attack, and eager to receive pacific overtures. In shorn, the whole conduct of Captain Elliot, which is as incom prehensible as the bombastical language of his circulars, has provoked the contempt as well as the vivid reproac:u•s dnd remonstrances of his countrymen both in India and in China. ft is Ea!isfactory to find that the accounts from Chusan, which are to the 12th Janua-y, represent that, with the cold weather, sickness has disappeared, and that the gar rison was plot:Cluny supplied with provisions. The island 's, however, to be Lvaeuated, and no port is to be opened to the northward. Important events have occurred in the Punjab. Shore Sing, whose abdication excited our astonishment, knowing that pusillanimity was not reputed to be one of his quali ties, has been, meanwhile, maturing a plan whereby a counter revolution has been effected in his favour. After a fierce struggle, attended with much bloodshed, this adopted son of old Ruoject has, in spite of his base birth, re-eceu , pied the garli ; and the widow of Kurruck Sing has withdrawn, like her competitor, into retirement, with a liberal stipend. The state of the Sikh army, however, and the disordered condi:ion of the country, render the scat of the new ruler, though at present unmolested, in secure; and must impose upon the Anglo-Indian Govern ment the duty of keeping up an establishment to watch so formidable a neighbour. In Affghanistan and Scinde, matters seem returning to a state of tranquillity. The rebellion affair turns out, as we expccted,to have been much exaggerated. A collision did, indeed, take place between our troops and the malcontents, which ended io the discomfiture of the latter, with small loss to the former, who behaved with gallantry. The origin of the insurrection is represented in a private letter to have been this :—The political agent despatched some Affghan sowars, with two guns, to collect tribute at Ghirisk ; the people refused its payment, seized the guns, and sent back the sowers. Colonel Wcalace, thereupon, sent a force which recovered the ordnance and compelled the payment of the tribute. The district of Zamin Dower, in which Ghirisk is situated, is reported to be much dis turbed, and the people generally disaffected; otherwise Affghanistan continues tranquil, and the influence of gar Mahomed amongst the tribes, to which some of the ac counts had attributed the instigation of the rebellion, is very trifling. Nusseer Khan, it seems, has not yet come in, but his surreeder was hourly expected ; and, mean while, the restless spirits in Belooch:stan were becoming petitioners for peace. Both Nepaul and Burmah are quiet. No intelligence has been received from Persia. Some hostilities have taken place, upon a small scale, in the Southern 11Iahratta country. The domestic transactions at the Presidencies demand little notice. The Governor-General in Council has in flicted a severe punishment upon the regiment of Bengal Native Cavalry, which so shamefully abandoned their officers and disgraced the name of soldiers by a shameful flight at the battle of Purwen Durrah. The plea of the offenders is at variance with all the excuses, or rather reasons, for the desertion, suggested ia the newspapers. Not one of the dastards ventured apparently to allege the act imputed to Lord Kean as a motive for their miscon duct. With reference to the transaction just alluded to, it will be seen that a writer in the Agra Ulthbar, where the charge against his Lordship appeared, has given the same account of the transaction as Sir John Hobhouse, which fully justified it. At Bombay, Sir James Carnac (whose health, we are glad to find, is re-established) has adjusted at Baroda the grounds of dispute with the Guicowar, and has returned to the Presidency. Mr. Farish, senior member of Coun cil, and Sir John Awdry, the Chief Justice, have resigned their offices, to return to England. The retirement of the former—a gentleman well esteemed and respected in private as well as public life—was marked by a high com pliment—namely, a resolution passed at a public meeting to raise a subscription for the establishment, at the new Grant Medical College, of some scholarship, for deserv ing natives, which should bear his name. Notwithstand ing this object, so well calculated to eonciliate the natives of the Presidency, and in spite of the amiable character of Mr. Farish, the connection which that gentleman had, or is supposed to have bad, with the attacks made upon the religious opini , ?.ns of the natives, and especially with the conversion of the two Parsee youths, induced the respect able members of that part of the community (two only ex cepted) to absent themselves from the meeting. Even at the sale of that gentleman's furniture, the natives ab stained from bidding, and consequently the prices were materially reduced. These are indications, which should not provoke (as vie regret to perceive they provoked.in certain quarters) violent and acrimonious reflections upon the native gentlemen, who are guilty of nothing more than the exercise of a just privilege, but should inspire the ruling euthoi hies with an additional degree of caution. FAST-DAY IN SCOTLAND.—The following from a Scotch paper gives a strange account of the mode in which sacred days are observed in Scotland. Addi tional watchmen were required to keep in order the thou sands who poured in by steam-boats and railroads to wor ship in this city, so renowned for its religion : —Thursday last being Fast-day in Glasgow, and the weather being exceedingly fine, we had an immense number of visitors. On the joint line there were about 6,000 passengers con veyed—on the Greenock lino about 4,ooo—and on the Ayr line about 3,000 The Canal Company, too, had far more than they could take in their gigs, and had to set on se veral trading boats to convey the surplus. The number carried amounted to 3,072. The steamers on the Clyde were filled to overflowing, and the Renfrew Railway was well patronised ; but we have not heard the numbers stated that went by either of these conveyance?. The streets were, of course, much crowded during the day, but all went on quietly. The night watchmen were increased in case of need, but there were no disturbances worth notice, and before eleven o'clock the town was as quiet as usual " JOHN KNox.—At the anniversary meeting of the Literary and Antiquarian Society of Perth, very great interest was excited by the presentation, at the same time and from different quarters, of the walking-stick of John Knox, and the candle-stick which stood before him at the time when an attempt was made against his life, and through which the bullet passed which was aimed at him through the window of his lodgings. The cane was a donation from Mr. Laing of London. The candlestick was a presentation from Mr. Murray of Aytoun, and both were accompanied by memoranda, which left no hesita tion as to their being veritable memorials of this great Re former. SPONTINI, THE COMPOSER.—The Leipsic Gazette, in a letter from Berlin of the 3d instant, gives the following:—" For some time past the public having been displeased with Spontini, the composer and director of the Opera, he had not presented himself before them, but a new opera having to be performed, he resolved on leading the orchestra. He was informed, however, that if he did so he would be roughly treated. Last week, whilst walking lit the Garden of Plants, the King, who was not aware of the displeasure against Spontini, met and conversed in a friendly way with him, which led him to suppose that his offence to the public had been forgot ten, and he resolved upon appearing in the orchestra, although advised to the contrary, and told by the police that it would not interfere to protect him. Yesterday evening he took his teat in the orchestra amid murmurs and hisses, and cries of Leave the place.' Spontini remained firm until the anger of the audience became so great that the police, fearing serious consequences, sent the stage-manager into the orchestra to invite the directur to withdraw. He had, however, taken alarm, and before the stage-manager had arrived he had disappeared." THE LATE DUCHESS-DOWAGER OF MARL- BoKotion. —The remains of the late Duchess Dowager of Marlborough were, on Monday last, deposited in the Emily vault in the chapel at Blenheim Palace, to which they bad been removed from her Grace's residence in London. ' The funeral was strictly private. THE lONIAN ISLES. The following is the speech of his Excellency the Lord High Commissioner to the Legislative Assembly, on the 16th of March : " In addressing you et the close of this highly im portant and useful Session of Parliament, I have first to express the very high gratification I have had in giving my assent to that great Act by which the new codes of law will speedily come into operation. I con gratulate you on the accomplishment of this great work, and it is ray ardent hope and fervent wish that the transition thus made from conflicting and ill-adapted laws to a sound system of legislation, may be produc tive of every possible benefit and advantage to the lonian people. " With reference to the recommendation which I made at tit, opening of this session, that you would take into your aerial's consideration the insufficiency of the revenue, and the necessity of adopting such mea sures as the exigencies of the public service render ❑e cessary, I may now add, that the measure which you have adopted, of Festering the duty on grain, a duty originally imposed in lien of tithes, but abolished in 1833, is considered by her Majesty's Government to be the only means of insuring an additional revenue to the ton/an Treasury, with the least possible burden to the people ; I conffratulate you, accordingly, on having, by this Act, restored the finances to a condition which will fully enable the Government to meet all its engagements. " In proceeding now to the painful duty of closing th lonian Parliament for the last time, I beg to ex press the great satisfaction which I have experienced in all my relations %vitt: the seventh Parliament, and my thanks for the cordial end firm support you have always afforded me, particularly in these, the closing acts of my administration. " The seventh Parliament commenced its labours under difficult circumstances, but these so speedily dis appeared that its first session closed under the most fa vourable auspices ; and the proieecting Sovereign and her Majesty's Government derived great satisfac tion from learning that harmony had been so happily re-established between the two branches of the lonian Legislature, and I feel convinced that her Majesty's G ivernmont will receive with increased gratification the evidences which I shall have to offer of the happy con tinuation of that harmony, and the satisfactory termi nation of this short but important session. On your return to your respective islands you will, I am confident, do all in your power to inculcate what you feel, and hats so well practised—to confirm the lonian people in the sPit of loyalty, confidence, aff:c tion, and respect for the prtitetting Sovereign, which I feel persuaded nothing can shake or undermine. Thus, in separating from you, I have the consolation of knowing that I leave the powers of these states moving and co-operating in perfect unison with each other for the public good, and ell acting in harmony with the views and intentions of her Majesty's Go vernment. " I most earnestly recommend a steady perseverance in this laudable spirit—a prosecution of those measures and a cherishing of those institutions, which can alone prepare the lonian people to discharge properly the ar duous duties which free institutions impose—institu tions, however, which, if prematurely introduced, would prove a far greater injury than a boon to the people themselves; for becoming the sport and the prey of a few ambitious and intriguing men, the lonian people would never have the benefit and protection of a stable Gav; , rnment, nor the energy and vigour of a free State. " Those changes and modifications which the real in terests of the lonian people may, in future, require, mAy safely be lett to the Sovereign of that free, State,. and the Government of that enlightened country, under whose exclusive protection and guidance you are placed, and in whose hands that power is, happily for you, ex clusively vested by the constitutional charter. " The cardinal measures for improving the condition of the lonian people are those only which I have unceasingly urged forward by all the faculties and means in my power—namely, the diffusion of public education—the improvement of the laws, and a vigi lant concern for the impartial administration of justice —the encouragement of industry—the opening of new communications—the advancement of morality and me rit—an unfeigned respect for religion, and implicit obe dience to the laws. " These bring all other blessings in their train ; and that all prosperity and happiness mny ever attend the lonian people, collectively and individually, is my fervent and parting prayer to that Providence, which directs, overrules, and disposes all human affairs." APPLICATION OF DIORAMIC THE OXY-HYDROGEN LIGHT. A remarkably pleasing and altogether new applica tion of the powers of hydro-oxygen light is at pre sent absorbing the atteation of the visitors at the Royal Polytechnic institution, where it was first exhi bited on Easter Monday. The exhibition consists in displaying on the large disc in the theatre of the es tablishment a series of magnified pictures, properly called" dissolving views," the effects of which are abso lutely surprising to the last degree. What we ourselves saw we will endeavour to convey to the imagination of the reader by description. The first picture represented three line-of-battle ships, one English and two foreign, preparing tor engagement. On a sudden, and by imper ceptible means, the commencement of the action was in dicated by the appearance of large volumes of smoke. These, in tern, were succeeded by a representation of the conquered foreign ships in a crippled state; their yards shot away, their rigging floating about, and the standard of England flying from the remaining stumps of masts. This accomplished, the vessels faded from the vision, their receding shadows giving place to a view of Green wich Hospital from the river, with yachts and steam boats at anchor. These changes are so nicely gra duated that the eye scarcely recognises the illusory transformation. Ono of the most pleasing series of views was that in which were represented the old Royal Exchange, with its subsequent destruction by fire, the appearance of the ruins, and the (to be) new build ing. These changes were brought about as if by magic, the second taking the place of the first as if it actually grew out of the canvas, for the purpose of displacieg its successor. Altogether we saw 18 of these metamorphoses, and, judging from the enthu siastic and even boisterous applause bestowed upon each picture, we should infer that nothing has been produced for a long time,leven at the novelty exciting Polytechnic Institution, so well calculated both to please and astonish. The effects we have alluded to arc produced, not by mountebankism, but by science. Messrs. Cary, the celebrated opticians, are the inventors of this new and very charming application of the powers of a well known chemical light ; raid their modus operandi is the result of philosophical principles. Some appropriate and very well-executed airs' were played by a petite band behind the disc during the progress of these dissolving views. We foresee that this invention will become the stepping-stone to an altogether new style of dioramic representation to an unlimited extent. Shakspearo's " Seven Ages," Thomson's " Seasons," the achievements of a navy, the battles of armies ; in short, every class of event by " flood and field," may succinctly be given by this all-attractive method of pictorial story-telling. REPRESENTATION OF IPs wrcu.—We last week announced the intended retirement of Sir Thomas Cochrane from the representation of this borough, upon the dissolution of the preieut Parliament, since then the " why and the wherefore " of the divorce of this political union has been bruited abroad. Of the cause of this dis agreement, " many tongued rumour " has circulated some most extraordinary tales. The real state of the case is now fully ascertained. A letter has been addressed by the Hon. and Gallant Knight, to numerous persons, who, it appears, have claims for certain electioneering debts, and who have been moat wofully left in :he lurch. This letter fully exculpates the Hon. and Gallant Knight, and shows an open and straightforward dealing, and at the same time a zeal for his patty, which command respect and justify his high character as a gentleman.—lpswich Express. At the late assizes at Kingston a black man, named John Giddy, from the river Gambia, was indicted for feloniously assaulting Zoula Lander, with intent to do hi m som e grievous bodily harm. The prosecutor and the other witnesses, in support of the prosecution, were all Africans and had a very imperfect knowledge of English, and Mr. Baron Parke had considerable difficulty in ascer taining from them what form of oath they considered would be binding upon their conscience; and all that could be elicited from them was that they believed that if they told a lie they should go "down, down, down." The Learned Judge, after some further inquiries, said he thought the prosecutor might be sworn, and he then, partly by very intelligent signs and by words, explained that he and the prisoner formed part of the crew of a vessel called the William de la Noix, and that they came from Gambia in her, and during the voyage the prisoner was continually abusing him, and upon ono occasion he attempted to "gouge" one of his eyes, and he showed the Court the in jury the prisoner had inflicted at that time. On the day of the transaction referred to in the indictment be and the prisoner were both drunk on board the vessel and they began to quarrel, and as the prisoner was in the act of getting up the rigging, the prosecutor laid hold of his heel, and be immediately got down in a great rage, and seized an iron bolt, a most formidable instrument upwards of two feet long and three inches thick, and with both hands struck the prosecutor a tremendous blow on the head, and Le continued beating him with the iron bolt for several seconds after he was upon the ground. He then ran away and hid the bed', and told the ship's cook not to let the " white man" know that he had taken it. The pri soner in his defence said that the old man (the prosecutor) had ken "on to him " all the voyage , and that ho aggra vated him to do what be did. T rue Jur y found the pri soner Guilty, and Mr. Baron Par ke, after observin g tbat an offence committed by soufchthaepolaowr laws and ms ascutshto of thee prisoner, w i who as quite ignorant be visited with the Same s • country, ought not to evenly, as it would under ordinary circumstances, sentenced the prisoner to be kept to hard labour for four months. TAXING LUXURIES.—The L oui e o o z f tz R sv e i p l r l e e 3e A nt d: i e v r e; ybill upon carriages and go ld h ti a s v e e r saysthat ad e ded t t a be new Kentuck y tax watc h es a proposition to tax other luxuries, such as whisky, tobacco, and hemp 1' Whisky and tobacco luxuries! One is an unmitigated curse' and the other an intolerable nuisance ! Hemp a luxury ! Why, in dispensable necessity as lo ng it is an article of as the whisky and tobacco are used." MORNING EDITION. ACTION FOR SCANDAL. (From the Boulogne Gazette.) P AnsoNg v. PRESBURY.—This case came on for hearing, before the Juge-de-paix, on Monday last. The defendant was charged with having, during a period of several monthF, been in the habit of traducing the cha— racter of plaintiff, inasmuch that she had stated, that he had obtained a large sum of money from a widow lady, to b e placed out at interest in her behalf; that, instead, of so applying it, he had appropriated it to his own use, and was living in Boulogne upon the money thus ac quired ; the result of which was, that the widow lady had been reduced to great misery, and ultimately died in a workhouse. The defendant was farther charged with asserting that plaintiff had been turned out of a bank in which he had been clerk, and was a man with whom no person should associate. no first witness called was Mr. Cookesley ; he stated that, about three weeks back, he was with his father in the Rue Neure-Chaussee, where they met the defendant, who informed them that a Mr. Clarke and a Mr. Bouquet stated that the plaintiff had appro— priated to himself a large sum of money placed confi— dentially in his hands, belonging to a widow in Eng— land, and had fled to France with it, the consequence of which was that the widow lady died in misery in a workhouse in England. Oa his cross-examination by M. Hedouic, he denied that the defendant said she repeated the story only as she heard it, but did not herself believe it ; on the con trary, she said she believed it, and thought it right to inform the plaintiff's friends of it, that they should have no more connexion with a man of such a character. M. Sauvage was next examined, but declared he had heard nothing from the defendant on the subject. Mr. William Cookesley confirmed the previous evi dence given by his son. M. Gerard Perneau—The defendant, had sad to his wife that plaintiff had taken away a considerable sum of money from an English lady, who had died in misery, but he did not believe a word of it. Mr. George Manly deposed that the defendant told hint that plaintiff was a very bad man ; that a lady in England placed a considerable sum of money in his hands to be put out to interest for her benefit, that in stead of doing so he lett England and came to Boulogne to live upon the money, and that the lady had subse quently died in a workhouse. That on account of his bad conduct plaintiff had been dismissed from a situa tion that he heM in a bank. This witness was asked the following questions by de fendant's counsel : Did you not say to the defendant, three weeks ago, that Bouquet told you that he knew the plaintiff well, and that the less you knew of him the better ?—Yes ; and I also said the same thing to her, in the course of conversation, two months ago. When you saw Mr. Bouquet, did you not endeavour to obtain from him all the particulars you could relative to the plaintiCf, and did he not reply that plaintiff was dis missed from his situation in a bank, and that he was a man ha should be ashamed to associate with ?—Yes. Did you not first mention to the defe.ndant the alle gation that plaintiff had been dismissed from his sjtua tion in the bank ?—No. Did you not say to the defendant that her conduct in the whole affair, was] honourable ? When I spoke to the defendant about what she had been stating,, s he i n f o rmed me that all she had said she had heard from Clarke and Bouquet, for she knew very little about plaintiff, he and his wife havil,g only once drank tea at her house, and that she had repeated it. to all plaintiff's friends, having every confidence in its truth, Bouquet having been a long tame a clerk in the same banking house with plaintiff; I said her conduct was so far honourable that the story had not originated with her. The defendant was then examined by the gourt as to what she bad said of plaintiff, when she acknowledged that she bad stated all that had been depoed to by the Messrs. Cookesley, Mr. Perneau and Mr. Manly, but then it was only confidentially. _ _ M. Hedouin then addressed the Court in behalf a the defendant, stating that all she had done was men tioning confidentially to others the assertions of Clarke and Bouquet, who were the persons that should have been brought into Court, and not the defeudant. Why were they aot prosecuted ? He must suppose because they could prove what they Lad asserted. What the defendant had done was innocent and harmless. She knew nothing of the plaintiff. She repeated in private conversation what others had told her. M. Cannier then replied at length to the arguments of defendant's Counsel, when The Judge de Paix delivered judgment, condemning defendant to pay Mr. fine, !Mfr. damages, and costs. ROMAN NEWSPAPERS. The Romans, though we are apt to overlook the fact, had registers of politics and intelligence, which were really not unlike our own newspapers in their con tents, but immeasurably inferior in the mode of circu lation. The journals of the senate and national conven tions long contained little more than entries resembling those in our collected Acts of Parliament. Those fur ' nished most of the materials from which till 62! the Pontiffs compiled their annals ; and there is also proof that, after the Republic had extended its dominions', those official journals were regularly copied and trans mitted to public men living at a distance. But these sources were ❑ot enough. Every man abroad had his correspondents in Rome ; and, when the task of col lecting news became more difficult, several persons assumed nervsmongering as a trade, taking in short— hand notes of the proceedings at public meetings, and selling copies of them as well as of the com mon gossip of the day, and the official journals. Julius Cassar, in 694, established a regular system for recording the deliberations both of the Senate and the Conventions, in a form much like our reports of Parliamentary debates ; and he allowed these accounts to he copied and freely circulated. Although Augustus stopped the publication of the reports, the ►estraint was soon afterwards withdrawn ; and even after their introducti n by Julius, these and all other archives of the State were so unreservedly open to the public, and their contents were diffused in so many shapes, that we are often uncertain whether the sources to which the Roman authors refer are these official reports, or the notes of professional short-band writers, or, fiba)ly,, those collections of common news that were handi about with the other pieces of information. But we are less curious to disentangle this confusion than to learn some of the subjects which were discussed in the news-journals. The accounts of the political debates embraced the acts and resolutions, the rescripts of the emperors, the reports of Magistrates or Committees, the names of the voters (like that of Thrasea Pmtus, whose silent dissent was watched with such eagerness by the provincials), the speeches, their reception, and the squabbles of the debaters. Stray articles of law intelligence seem to have found their way into these collections. There were likewise occasional notices ex tracted from the local registers of births, and announce ments of marriages, divorces, deaths, and funerals ; as also descriptions of new public buildings, shows ofgladia tors, and such ordinary themes. Julius Caesar, who read the news-sheet every morning, gave strict orders that Cicero's witty sayings should be regularly added to the other current matter. The journals, too, like our own, were the receptacles for all tragical and mar vellous occurrences ; and Pliny derived from them many of the odd stories inserted in his Encyclopcedia, among which the following may be cited :--The Gazettes re lated, that on the day when Cicero defended Milo, there descended a shower of bricks; that under Au gustus a burgher of Fmsulm walked to the Capitol, in a procession formed by his own sixty-three descendants ; that when a slave of the unfortunate Titus Sabinus had been executed by Tiberius, his dog watched the corpse, carried food to its mouth, and, on its being thrown into the Tiber, swam after it, and strove to bring it to land ; and that in the reign of Claudius a phoenix from Egypt was publicly exhibited in Rome ; which last story, how ever, Pliny truly pronounces to be a manifest invention. —ltaly and the Italiani. CHURCHMEN MUST BE PAPISTS. Properly speaking , ev er y Tor y ou g ht to be a Papist. and it is a strange eno u g h thin g , consideri, th e matter on grounds of reason , th at the British To ry nominally is pi st, but ofa fierce Popery, denouncer, for a m and au (what should inso bad) l vile a calumniator Papist, calumniate or speak falsely of any one, not eve n o f the devil. Much less should the Tories speak falsely o f the Romanists; f or if Tor y is m be a thing of any ya not or ganism or consistency ; if it exist by virtue of any inde pendent, moral, and intellectual v it al i ty,. it must acknow ledge the Roman Pope as the most c • onsistent, thorough going, philosophical, practical Tory, that the histor y of the world exhibits —not even excepting Napoleon But the truth of the matter is, that no political or religious party (and British To r yism, s least of all) represents purely or - _ of . consistently a system prin ciples : parties represent interests ; and it may b e the interest of a man'she art on many' occasions and of his p urse on some occas io ns (for we would not think altogether basely of human na ture), to screw his head int o a contradiction. British Toryism, or Con servatism, as it now pleases to be called (" the world is governed by names,") represents the stable principle of society generally, and in this regard may be said to be as necessary to the constitution of society as the bones are to the body, though the principle of lire is in the heart a n d in the Wood, which we of the Movement boast ourselves to be. Now, it is manifest that the Pope stands in history as a sort of osteology, and firm frame-work of the Church ; he represents the stable principle of the Christianity of Churchmen ; so long as he exists, he exists as a living and visible pledge of the indefectible interests of the Christian hierarchy. All Churchmen (who are mostly Tories), therefore, and all Church Tories (that is to say, the great majority of Tories —for the Church in these times, we are told, is ,‘ the only cock that will fight") h —oug t naturally to acknowledge the Pope as the great founder of their faith, or at least as an ancient and venerable ally ; a doughty, though not always a wise, champion.—Tait's 1 Magazinc.