The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-03 00:00:00

6F-MR. TARRANII.

Mr. E. TAMES thc. of conga ae4k re...a—ceee-
tary of State for the Colonies to the case of Mr. Tarrant,
the editor of the Friend of China, who after conviction for a
libel had been sentenced to be imprisoned in the felons' gaol
at Hong Kong for a period of 12 calendar months. The hon.
and learned member,said this was a case of extreme severity
inflicted upon a British subject. Ho was convicted upon the
29th of September of a libel upon Colonel King. Mr. Tar-
rant was a gentleman and a scholar. He had made a posi-
tion in the colony for himself, end he afterwards became
the editor of the Friend of China. In that paper there were
some disclosures of disagreeable proceedings which were pre-
valent among certain officials in the colony, and Sir J. Bow-
-1 ing himself had been obliged to admit that great corruption
existed in that colony. Mr. Tarrant was, in the absence of
the Chief Justice, tried by Mr. Adams, the acting judge, and
sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment in the felons' gaol;
but it reflected great credit upon the conduct of Mr. Adams
that, after he discovered the state of that gaol and its
wretched condition, he remonstrated with the governor and
endeavoured to obtain a commutation of the sentence, or
the removal of Mr. Tarrant from the criminal side of the
gaol to the debtors' side. The whole of the jury which con-
victed Mr. Tarrant joined in the petition to the governor,
urging him to order the removal to the class of misdemean-
ants ; but he understood that nothing had been done. He
could state that Mr. Tarrant had endured the greatest pri-
vation and misery from his association with criminals in
that wretched place. His health suffered, and he was re-
moved to the hospital, but afterwards sent back again among
the felons. Ho thought Mr. Tarrant was entitled to some
leniency, as justice had been sufficiently N;ndicated. (Hear,
hear.)
Mr. C. FORT ESCUE said that the ircormation which he
had received differed from that received by the hon. and
learned member. He understood that from the first much
leniency had been shown to Mr. Tarrant, and in November
last the visiting justices revised the roles of the prison so as
to enable his being removed from the
_quarters of other cii-
minals. No doubt the gaol of Hong Bong was different to
those in England. The gaol required enlarging and im-
proving, and that operation was in the course of being car-
ried out. With res- ect to Mr. Tarrant himself, the quee-
tion was one of disci alien with the governor *-1 carrying
the sentence, which was not an easy matter, as the effect of
these personal libels in the newspapers of Hong Kong had
reached a point scarcely credible—to such an extent indeed
as to render it necessary that no excessive leniency should
be shown to a person who had thus exposed himself to
punishment. He would mention that the noble drize the
Secretary for the Colonies sent a despatch, directing that
upon its receipt, if Mr. Tarrant's elth was serien-sly suf-
fering or in danger of suffering, he was to be removed from
the criminal part of the gaol to the debtors' side ; end the
instructions further went on to say, that whether his health
should be suffering or not, at the end of s'e months he must
be removed to thedebtors' side of the prison; and the de-
spatch ended thus—" It has been urged upon me by some
who disavow the slightest sympathy with Mr. Tarrant's
writings, that the latter part of the sentence shov'd be
altogher remitted, and that he should be discharged from
prison. I must leave to your judgment how far such an
act of leniency is advisable." And the noble duke added
that he would not allow anytleieg to weigh against the p
soner ; but he thought persons must be protected from libels
which poisoned the atmosphere of that colony. (Hear.)
In conclusion the lion. member thanked the house f,r the
commendations which had been passed on Sir Leopold
'M'Clintock and his brave band. Both Sir Leopold and Mr.
Hopkins were natives of the country to which he (Mr. For-
tescue) bad the honour to belong. '-
Lord C. PAGET having also, as a naval officer, thanked
the house for the eulogium which had been passed on the
Polar officers and men, e -id remarked that Captain Engledue,
of the Isabel, had also acted in a manner to entitle him to
all praise, proceeded to reply to thouestion of the right hon.
baronet opposite with re-pect to ecent collisions amongst
the ships of the Channel fleet. Undoubtedly there had been
a very serious collision, inasmuch as it had resulted in the
loss of bowsprit to a very fine frigate, the Diadem. As to the
statement weich the right hon. baronet had read from the
Times, it looked uncommonly like what sailors call " a mid-
shipman's yarn," for neither he (Lord Clarence) nor his col-
leagues covid make anr hing of it. The fleet started from
Portland and went down until they came into the meridian
of the Needles, when the signal was made for the ships to
tack in succession. The Diadem was the sternmost ship of
the weather line, end the Queen fell for' of her and carried
away her bowsprit. The Admiralty had received a de'ailed
(tnh ,t damage.
on
whenever A
report -e•om the captain of the Diadem, but none from the
doubt sto
mismanagement
captain of the other ship. The other collision took place be-
tweenii, the Algiers and the Mersey, and had occasioned but
smtwanoavgeesmseelnst
eoanmbeoairndto eotheslqiiusaiodn-
dsr
there must have been mismanagement on the one side or
on the other, generally on both, but at present he could not
apportion
the blame in young
fleet,
this case. In the case of a
fleet, commanded by young
e, officers and with raw crews, and
in such weather, accidents would sometimes happen, but
that only proved how necehsory it was to keep
the squadron
always at sea. (Hear.)
Sir C. NAPIER said that the Liame Lay in sentlinm a
fleet to sea in the equinoctial gales, without having been
first properly exercised. Every sailor knew that the ship
on the part tack shouhi give way to the ship on the star-
board tack, and therefore whichever ship was on the port
tack her officers were to blame. He supposed there was
not an officer in the Channel fleet who had ever sailed in a
fleet before.
DISTURBANCES IN ST. GEORGE'S-IN-THE-
`) EAST.
Mr. LYGON asked a question as to what instruction had
been given to the police with a view to 'the suppression of
the disturbances iu St. George's-in-the-East. He feared
there was a great want of harmony between the police, the
rector, and the churchwardens. (A laugh.)
Sir G. C. LEWIS was afraid the Government would find
it a difficult task to maintain a good understanding between
the rector of St. George's-in-the-East and the police, or the
churchwardens, or any of his parishioners. (Laughter.) Pk
had been the object of the police to take efficient means for
the preservation of thepeace during the celebration of divine

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