The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-25 00:00:00

The Kidnapping of Sduth Sea Islanders.

LAW INTELLIGENCE—This Day.

COURT OF BANRUPTCY.
(Before Mr. Registrar Roche.)
IN RE RAWLINGs.—NEW CHOICE OF ASSIGNEES.

The reports which have been published of the kidnap-
ping of South Sea Islanders by Peruvian slavedealers
appear to have excited a general feeling of horror and in-
dignation in the Australian colonies. The press is loud is
its denunciations of the infamous acts which have been
committed, and a meeting has been held at Sydney to
memorialise the English Parliament upon the subject.
At this meeting, at which the Hon. John Hay, speaker of
the Legislative Assembly was chairman, an account of
the kidnapping that has been carried on was read by the
Rev. W. Murray, for many years a missionary in Western
Polynesia. The following is a report of come of the ette-
malts made by this gentleman :

This bankrupt was described as of Oakham, Rutland,
miller. The accounts, by Messrs. Hart Brothers and
Hayles, show— debtor to creditors, £5,062; good debts,
£1,020; property, £192; deficiency, £3,581.
This was a meeting for choice of new assignees, the
former having been removed for misbehaviour. Several
additional debts were now proved, and there was a strong
contest—Messrs. Lucy and Lucy of :Liverpool. merchants,
and Messrs. Thompson and Frankish, of Kingston-on-
Hull, being respectively proposed.
Messrs. Lucy were ultimately chosen.
This was the only case of interest, the commissioner not
sitting.

After alluding to some of the attempts made by the
French to stop kidnapping, Mr. Murray proceeded to say :
It appeared that, early this year, as many as fruzu 1,500
to 2,000 hapless beings, collected from the different
islands, had been conveyed to South America, and at this
date the trsifirt is being carried on wi(h unabated vigour.
We know from reliable authority that 25 vessels have
been fitted out in Callao, and cleared from that port,
under pretext that they were coming to hire lab, urers,
All was to be done by lair arrangement--a thing, by the
way, that bears the stamp of absuldity on its face. To
mention but a single difficulty—they would find the
natives of every separate group speaking a different dia-
lect ; and that would be an effectual barrier in the way of
entering into an agreement. But their subsequent pro-
ceedings show clearly enough the real character of their
enterprise. Deception, force, murder, are not the resorts
of those who gl with honest intentions to engage labourers.
And in returning to the coasts the vessels further discover
• their true character by not going to the port whence they
came, but skulking into by-harbours. They do not, how-
ever seem to return very frequently. The necessity for this
is avoided by an expedient in keeping with the whole char-
acter of their doings. They have a depot at an island called
Easter Island. This island is about 36 miles in circuit. It

POLICE INTELLIGENCE—This Day.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

CURIOUS APPLICATION.—BROKEN Vows.--A good-
looking, well-dressed young female, applied this 'morning
to Mr. Tyrwhirt for his advice under the following circum-
stances :

The applicant (in an under tone) said that for the past
two y€ars she had kept company with a young man who
had " vowed to marry her," and things went on pretty well
till last Sunday evening, when she met the young man
walking with another girl. Some words ensued, and the
young man said, notwithstanding his vows, that he should
have nothing more to say to her. In consequence of the
young man's promising to marry her—in fact the mar-
riage ceremony was fixed to take place during the present
month, she had left her situation and made prepare-

:ions necessary for such an occasion. She therefore wished
5o know what she was to do.

Mr. Tyrwhitt said he could do nothing for the applicant,
but she had better consult a solicitor and being an action
for breach of promise of marriage.
The applicant thanked the magistrate for his advice, and
left seemingly pleased at having an opportunity of revenge
on her fickle lover.

ies in longitude 109 Ne. and latitude 27 S. It is said that

they have completely swept the island of its inhabitants.
Seven vessels assembled on the island, sent on shore most
of their crews, no doubt thoroughly armed, surrounded the
natives, and carried them off- Haviog carried off the people,
they took hogs, poultry, and whatever else they desired,
and burned the houses, reserving, no doubt, as many as
they wanted for their own purposes. To this island the
slavers carry the wretched beings whom they manage to
seize, and a schooner plies between the island and the coast,
carrying cargo after cargo to slavery and death. These
vessels are said to be in whole or in part owned by a mer-
cantile house in Callao, and this house is further said to be
connected with a firm in Liverpool. When the Humboldt
sailed from Samoa, on the 12th May last, there were three
of these vessels about that group lying in wait off the diff-
ferent islands, with the View of picking up any canoe or
boat that might venture out to sea. One small boat had
been caught. The crew consisted of two Samoans and one
Portuguese. The captain was induced to let the Portuguese
go. The Samoans he carried off. On board one vessel that
called off Samoa there were 300 natives of different islands,
and the captain wished to obtain 400 more to complete his
cargo. Think of 700 human beings, accustomed to thr
most perfect freedom, crowded on board a single vessel, in
the heart of the tropics. We have reliable information
respecting the following islands, and the numbers taken
from them :—Fitialangi, 100; Pukapuka, 60; Manskiki
and Mangarongaro, 40 ; Tokelan, 60 ; Savage Island, 160 ;
total from these islands, 420. These islands, with the ex-

COMMITTAL WITHOUT A FINE.—UNPROVOIiED As-
SAULT.—John Durkin, a low rough-looking fellow, was
charged with the following unprovoked assault on a young
man Lamed George Harritt, assistant to a shopkeeper in
the Barlington-arcade.

The complainant, who had received a bad injury on his
eye, said that on the previous evening he was passing the
end of Maidenhead-court, Berwick-street, Soho, when the
prisoner, who was standing with two or, three companions
attracted his attention by having at the time a female's
head under his arm. The prisoner not icing that he (com-
plainant) was looking at him, said, " What are you looking
at, you -," and then struck him a violent blow, and
while he was suffering from the effects of it, being nearly
stunned, be received three more blows.
Mr. Tyrwhitt asked whether the prisoner ga*,9 him all
the blows, and the complainant said he had no doubt he
did, but the prisoner's companions were there at the time.
The complainant's evidence not being quite clear, Mr.
Tyrwhitt ordered the case to stand over that the constable
might see if there was any one near the spot who witnessed
it. On the case being resumed,
Mr. Thomas Knott, butcher, of Walker's-court, said he
saw the prisoner follow the complainant into the road and
give him a severe blow on the face, and on the complainant
running away to avoid the prisoner, the latter followed
him and gave him three more blows in the face, and the
complainant then called " Police."
Mr, Tyrwhitt said he was exceedingly glad that further
evidence had been got. The complainant had been hurt
so much that he gave his evidence in rather a confused
manner, but by looking after it fresh evidence had been got.
He (Mr. Tyrwhitt) was glad, for on no account would he
have had such a case go off. He should commit the pri-
soner for two months' with hard labour.

ception of Savage Island, which lies in latitude 19 S.' and
longitude 170 W., all lie towards the line about latitude S.
Bto 10, and longitude W, from 150 to 172. On all these
islands except Fitialanga we have missions, and it is owing
to that that we are in possession of the information we
have. But for that we might have been in utter ignorance
of what has taken place, and this awakens painful appre-
hensions as to what may have been the fate of other islanders
where no one is found to tell the tale of their wrongs, such
as Easter Island, already mentioned, and High Island,from
which, it is said, a ship load of people has been taken—that
there have been such doings on a large scale is clear from
the fact that in addition to the number we have Earned,
from 1,500 to 2,000 have been taken to the land of bondage.
On the whole it is certain that considerably over 2,0J0
either are now in actual bondage, or are on their way to the

land of doom, or have had their lives cut short by the hard-
ships and cruelties to which they have been exposed. And
we know from good authority, that it is designed to raise
the number to 10,000, of cow se making no account of those
who die on their way to their destination, or lose their lives
in encounters with their captors. Such is the state of the
case that now claims our sympathies—a case deplorable in
the highest degree. It may be questioned whether ever a
case calling more urgently for prompt and effective inter-
ference was presented to a Christian community. Let any
one read the simple artless tales of the Rarotongan and
Samoan teachers, Maka and Samuela, and he must be
strangely constituted if his soul is not stirred to its lowest
depths. One of the most touching incidents that has come to
light connected with the affair is the fact that on the morning
following the dreadful day on which the murderous proceed-
ings took place at Savage Island the natives, while their
hearts were bleeding and their tears flowing because fathers
husbands, brothers, and sons were torn from their embrace,
should lift up their voice to God in prayer, not to invoke
vengeance upon the heads of their guilty oppressors, tut to
pray that their hearts might be changed, and that they might
be led to abandon their wicked courses. How like the spirit
of Him whose followers they profess to be—" Father for-
give them, for they know not what they do." And these
are the descendants of men who rushed upon Captain Cook
when he landed upon their shores, as he expresses it, like
wild boars, and who themselves were in the same state 12
years ago as that in which they were found by Cook. What
a mighty influence must the Gospel have exerted upon
them. Still more touching, perhaps, is the scene on board
that floating hell where the poor captives were confined.
When they supposed the hour had arrived at which they had
been wont with their families to worship God in their
happy homes—now no longer theirs—they united in their
accustomed exercise; they prayed and sang praises to
God, and no doubt, like their friends on shore, sought
blessings for the miserable men by whom they were be-

ing so cruelly wronged. On the following day the vessel
stood in towards the shore. Some natives, ignorant of
the character of the ship and of what had transpired,
went on board. Those in confinement recognised the
well-known sounds of their native tongue. They shouted
for help, but of course in vain. By desperate efforts
they succeeded in breaking a hole in the door large enough
to let one through at a time. A number succeeded in reach-
ing the deck, and rushed over the ship's side into the sea,
but there were only two or three small canoes—land was a
long way off, and some were not able to swim dell. The
wretches on board fired from the deck upon the helpless na-
tives in the canoes and the water. A boat was lowered, and
many were captured. Seven only escaped. Among those
carried off were 13 church members, and many candidates.
Eighteen wives are left withuut husbands, and G 3 children
are deprived of their fathers.

THE LONG VACATION AT THE JUDGES' CRAM
BERS.—To-day (Tuesday) Mr. Justice Byles will
attend at chambers, and continue to attend on Tuesday and
Friday in every week till the end of the long vacation. All
the courts aro closed, and the offices are only open a few
hours in the day. The long vacation has now "fairly set
in," and law and equity are resting. The origin of the long
vacation was to enable persons to assist in getting in the
harvest, and now the harvest generally looked to by law-
yers at the present time is their bills of costs.
THE ACCIDENT AT THE BLACKFRIARS RAILWAY
BRIDGE.—Upon inquiries made last evening it was
ascertained that the only cases of a serious nature are those
of Colman, who lies, with his head slightly injured, at St.
Bartholomew's Hospital; and the man (name unknown)
who was in the confusion consequent upon the accident re-
moved to his residence, suffering from an injury to the right
arm, The man who was missing, it would keem, thew his
money at dinner-time on Saturday, and was not heard of by
his friends until yesterday morning. During the day the
representatives of Messrs. Peto and Betts, the contractors,
made a minute investigation into the cause of the occur-
rence, but could arrive at no positive conclusion as to the
first breaking away of the trap beams. The timber of which
they were composed was a portion of 8,000 sticks of Dantzic
which have been supplied to the contractors by Messrs. P.
Rolt and Co., of Rotherhithe; and although it is nearly all
in use, this is the first instance of any breakage having
taken place. The examination of the broken parts did not
show any flaws, and the men who had charge of the con-
struction of the portion which covered the opening which
gave way deemed it of sufficient strength to justify their
trusting their own lives upon it.
ATTEMPT TO BURN A CHURCH.—Yesterday, in
the Town-hall, Godalming, before Mr. H. Marshall,
mayor, and other magistrates, A. Hackman, aged 26, a la-
bourer in the employ of Mr. Madley, chamois leather
manufacturer, was finally examined on a charge of attempt-
ing to burn the parish church. It appeared from the evi-
dence that the sexton on Monday morning last discovered,
on entering the building, some large pieces of burnt paper
lying in the south aisle under the window facing Church-
street. The paper seemed to have been torn from a wall.
The window had been broken from the outside, and between
the wall and a tomb which stood near it lour inciter matches
were picked up which had been ignited. Suspicion having
fallen on the prisoner, who lives in Church-street, his house
was examined. It was then discovered that the paper was
of the same pattern as that of the paperhangings on the wall
of his room, and that the latter had been torn. The frag-
ments found in the church aisle were applied to the surface
from which the paper had been torn. The edges were found
exactly to fit, and the little bits of plaster which had stuck
to the paper corresponded to small holes left in the wall.
After an examination, which lasted from 10 o'clock iu the
morning till 4 in the afternoon, the prisoner was committed
for trial at the next Surrey assins, bail being refused.
As one of the men employed at the Versailles
Railway termiuul (Left Bank) was walking along the line
near the station, the day before yesterday, he "'V a paper
parcel i
ou the embankment. On examination it was
found to contain the body of an exceedingly young child
wrapped in a napkin. From the state of the body it was
evident that the poor thing had been murdered and kept for
suave thee before it war thrma on the railway.

ME SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, AtTGUST 25, 1863.

THE POLISH QUESTION.

Managers.

The Memorial Dipiomatigue gives the following
as an antalysis of the despatqh of M. Drouyn de
Lhuys to the Duke of Montebello

M. Drouyn de Lhuys aemmences by declaring that the
note of Prinee Gortschakoff dots not satisfy the legitimate
expectation of the French Governments; he regrets that
Russia, after having eneenraged the Powers to an exchane
of views, has taken no further notice of their representations,
and appears to appreciate no better the true character of the
Polish insurrection, and the situation which the prolongation
of the insurrectionary movement creates in Europe. It is not
without astonishment that the French Government has seen
ascribed to the measures of the revolutionary propaganda
the birth and development of the insurrection, and even
the emotion it has produced in Europe. Neither instiga-
tions from abroad, nor the efforts of a small number of file-
tious persons, can have provoked and cherished a rising to
which all classes of society—nobles, citizens, workmen,
peasants, and the clergy, from the chiefs of the episcopate
to the humblest priest—have lent their assistance, and
which all the forces of Russia have not succeeded in sup-
pressing. It is not the revolution which from Stockholm
to Madrid and from London to Tulin has provoked on
the part of every Cabinet serious representations, or
which has excited in the midst of every Parliament
the energetic manifestation of unanimous sympathies.
It is not by persisting in the path in which she seems
engaged that Russia will see this formidable situa-

Hon —become unravelled; it is only by concessions
that she could obtain such a z esult. Thus, •the French
Government cannot too much regret that the Russian
Cabinet has rejected the idea of a suspension of arms which,
producing a preliminary calm in men's minds, could alone
have permitted the Powers to continue with utility the dis-
cussion of the means to be employed to bring about a
durable pacification, and conduct the negotiations to a
good result.
As for these negotiations themselves, the French Cabinet
could not accept the form and the course which the Russian
Government would wish them to take. Besides, Prince
Gortschakoff interprets badly the precedents upon which he
seeks to support his proposal for a conference of three
Powers. if it is true, indeed, that in 1815 the dispositions
of detail relative to the kingdom of Poland were regulated
among the three Powers the most directly interested, sub-
ject to the sanction of Europe, the bases themselves of the
arrangements which decided on the condition of Poland
had been previously discussed and definitely settled among
all the Powers who signed the final act of Vienna.
Further, Russia herself has recognised the right of Europe
to intervene in the regulation of the affairs of Poland, and
one cannot refrain from pointing out the contradiction
which exists between the actual propositions of the Russian
Cabinet and the first despatch of Prince Gortschakoff In
that despatch, the Vice-Chancellor of Russia acknowledged
to all the Powers which took part in the elaboration of the
arrangements of 1815, and signed the final act of Vienna,

the right of direct intervention which it wishes now to re-
strict to the three neighbouring Powers. It may even be
advanced that it is Russia which has taken the initiative
of a general Conference among the Powers, M. Drouyn de
Lhuys wishes no other proof of this than the declaration
made by the Ambassador of Russia to the English Minister
for Foreign Affairs. In handing to Earl Russell, a copy of
the despatch of Prince Gortschakoff of April 17, Baron
Brunnow declared that his Government was ready to enter
on the discussion on the footing and within the limits of the
treaties of 1815. _ _

The French Government can only persist in the views it
has already expressed. There remains to it a most serious
duty to discharge—that is, to call the most serious atten-
tion of Russia to the gravity of the actual situation. The
three Powers have remarked the perils which that situation
creates in Europe, and the urgency of remedying them ;
they have indicated the remedies to be applied. If Russia
refuses to adopt the friendly councils which have been given
her, she becomes responsible for the serious consequences
which the prolongation of the troubles of Poland may draw
after it.

To the French despatch is annexed a special memorial,
in which the Minister for Foreign Affairs developes the
arguments which he draws from the course followed in
1815 for regulating the affairs of Poland.
The Atemortal Diplomatique adds to the above
the following notice of the English and Austrian
despatches :
The English despatch is much more lengthy than the
note of M. Dreuyn de Lhuys. Earl Russell discusses in
it the arguments of Prince Gortschakoff, relying on the text
of the Vienna treaties, and he demonstrates, "often with a
great vivacity of language," that Russia has not executed
the engagements which it contracted in 1815. In two brief
allusions, he places the refusal of the armistice among the
number of the reasons which makes the reply of Prince

Gortschakoff be regarded as insufficient.
Count Rechberg also discusses the Polish question from
the point of view of the treaties of 1815. There result from
this a certain likeness of argument and frequent correspon-
dences of expression between the Austrian and English
notes.

The three despatches agree in rejecting as erroneous the

opinion expressed by Prince Gortsclaakoti, that the actual
crisis is the work of the revolutionary propaganda. Earl
Russell demands if it is the revolution which has been able

to produce at Paris, at London, at Vienna, at Turin, unani
mity of sentiment and language. The three notes termi
nate with an identical conclusion.

A nearly Fatal Mistake—Warning to Stage

A story is current in dramatic circles here which should
be known to stage managers generally. The particulars,
as far as we can learn, are as follow :—Friday night was
the benefit of Mr. Charles Rice at the Royal Princess's
Theatre, Saturday closing the brief but successful engage-
ment of that intelligent and versatile actor. One of the
pieces brought forward on the occasion was " The Victims
of Circumstances," the character of Lenoire being per-
sonated by the beneficiare. It happens that Lenoire should
be poisoned, and that the poisonous ingredient —a powder—
should be secretly mixed with Lenoire's drink on the stage ;
in other words, in presence of the audience. This is the
author's arrangement. On Friday night there was an in-
novation in the libretto, and, as it hsppened, a rather dan-
gerous one. The play went on smoothly enough till the
poisoning scene, when, instead of a powder being used by
the character whose duty it is to poison, a liquid was used,
and that liquid was laudanum, a small vial full of which was
mixed with Lenoire's potations. The effect was soon no-
ticeable on Mr. Rice, who staggered through his part—
which fortunately was short—under an increasing feeling
of drowsiness. He felt that he was the " Victim of Cir-
cumstances" in a manner he had not bargained for--he be-
came conscious of a mistake that was all but fatal. Of
course, when the curtain fell, there was an immediate in-
quiry as to where the laudanum came from. It was found
that it had been taken from the property room, where
usually no laudanum is allowed, and where it never was
before. How, however, it came there in the present case is
not known ; and how, above all, the laudanum came to be
used instead of the powder is also a mystery. It is one of
those instances where a mistake occurs in spite of the most
excellent supervision--in circumstances even where the
esprit de corps of a profession is its best defence. Suffice
it, that Mr. Rice recovered after the use of mild restoratives,
and that the contretemps that occurred gave only a tragic
,inge to the experiences of ono of the " Victims of Circum-
stances" on his benefit night. The mistake has its uses;
and though Vac lesson has been often read before, it is here
read again, that poison should in any state be kept out of
the way of business, and particularly from the 'business
rooms of a theatre, where the excitements and exigencies of
the stage are so liable to preclude time for precautionary
measures, In this case a really valuable actor's life has
been endangered from the direct fault of no one so much as
from innocent indiscretion. It is a warning,—Ca/edmian
Mercury.

The Annamite Ambassadors sent to the Court
of the Tuileries by the Emperor Tu Duc will arrive in
Paris in about ten days. The French Government
has rented for them a handsome hotel in the Champs-
Elys6es, Rue Lord Byron, 17, belonging to Messrs.
William Arthur and Co., house agents ; and have requested
them to open a communication with and furnish also a
large house next door for the suite, nearly 70 in number.
COMMITTAL OF AN INCENDIARY.—At the Hyde
petty sessions yesterday, a haydealer and greengrocer,
named James Booth, was committed for trial at the Ches-
ter assizes on a charge of firing a haystack at Mottram-
in Longdenda:e. The stack was the property of a Mrs.
Dakin, between whom and the prisoner there has for some
time been a very unfriendly feeling.
PHANTOM SHIPS.—Two gentlemen strolling upon
Beacon-hill on the 20th of June Witnessed a rare
sight. Three large ships, with all sails bent, appeared to rise
as it were from the water between Rocky Point and Race,
Rocks, and with their white canvas glistening in the sun
and the spray dashing from their prows, headed• directly
for Victoria harbour. The spectators, knowing the danger-
ous locality in which the vessels were, and alarmed lest
they should be dashed to pieces on the rocks, sprung to
their feet, when suddenly the ships disappeared, seeming
to melt from view, and nothing was seen but the rocks
and the breakers dashing over them. A moment or
two afterwards, instead of the watery space between the
lighthouse and Rocky Point, appeared a wall of solid rock,
as clearly defined as the Olympian range of mountains on
the American shore. The rocks shortly disappeared, and
the three ships were again seen, this time nearer the Ame-
rican side, and apparently bound up the Sound. They re-
mained stationary for a few moments, then faded slowly
away, and returned no more. The illusion was caused by
mirage, which arises from a peculiar ratified state of the
atmosphere. It is no uncommon occurrence to see appari-
tions of dense forests and mountains in the vicinity of Race
Rocks, and large lakes open suddenly in the bosom of some
mountain on the opposite shore ; but objects such as ships
under full sail have been rarely seen hero as mirage.—
T'icioria (Vancouver's Island) chronie/e.
Bowe of the Journals state that the office of
Grand Equerry of France, which has remained vacant
since the death of Marshal do Saint-Arnaud, is about to be
rei,it.(l in favour of Gmeral Fleury,