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

THE BRITISH MUSEUAI.

Mr. GREGORY, in withdrawing a notice which he had
placed on the paper in reference to Irish railways, said that
before he sat down he wished to advert to the statement
made by the noble viscount as to the decision come to by
the trustees of the British Museum. He trusted that silence
cn this occasion would not be construed into an acquies-
cence that these collections on natural history might be re •
moved to a place difficult of access to the inhabitants of
London. He thought that before anything was done there
ought to be some inquiry into the feelings and opinions of
those persons who were in the habit of visiting the museum,
and it should be remembered that in removing these col-
lections to another place it would be necessary to provide
books of reference, which could not be done under great ex-
pense, while at present there was under the same roof the
best library in the world.

COLLISIONS IN THE CHANNEL.
Sir J. PAKINGTON said that he desired, before put-
ting a question to the noble lord the Secretary to the Admi-
ralty, to advert to the subject of Captain M'Clintock. He
could not refrain from expressing his great satisfaction with
the observations of the right hon. baronet the member for
Portsmouth (Sir F. Baring). The noble viscount had
alluded to the conduct of Lady Franklin herself, and he
could not help expressing his concurrence: with that part
of the subject. He hoped she would not be forgotten by
the noble viscount, and he thought that something more
was due to her than what had been mentioned by the noble
viscount. The right hon. baronet then called attention to a
reported collision in the Channel—off the Lizard—between
the ships of the fleet, and he wished to ask whether the Board
of Admiralty had had any account of the reported version of
this collision of the fleet off the Lizard, and the circumstances
of the damage done to the ships. He should like to inquire
whether this waS to be considered as the unavoidable result
of the late gale, or whether any blame was to be imputed to
the officers of the squadron There was a still more im-
portant question, and it was this. The paragraph to which
he referred stated that the casualties which had happened
to the Diadem, the Algiers, and the Mersey, had all been
reported to the Admiralty. He wished to know whether
these casualties which had happened to these magnificent
ships occurred by coming into collision in the open Channel.
He understood the Diadem and the Queen ran foul of each
other, and that the Algiers and the Mersey also ran foul of
each other. The fact of these splendid ships coming into
collision in the open Channel was a matter of serious im-
port, and one which the attention of the Admiralty ought to
be directed to. It must, in addition, cause a large and
serious expense. How did this matter occur ? He under-
stood that in both cases they were caused by the ships sail-
ing is two lines, and backing in succession. If that was
the case, one of two in ferences must follow : either the
sailing orders under which the fleet were maneuvering
must be of a defective and unsafe character, or that there
was a want of seamanship among the officers. He should
be glad to have these impressions removed, if it could be
done. (Hear, hear.)
THE " FRIEND OF CHINA"—IMPRISONMENT
OF MR. TARRANT.

Mr. E. JAMES called the attention of the Under Secre-
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 inaprisoned 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. He 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, and 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. He thought Mr. Tarrant was entitled to some
leniency, as justice had been sufficiently vindicated. (Hear,
hear.)
Mr. C. FORTE SCUE said that the information 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 rules of the prison so as
to enable his being removed from the quarters of other cri-
minals. No doubt the gaol of Hong Kerne- 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 respect to Mr. Tarrant himself, the ques-
tion was one of discretion with the governor ip carrying out
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 duke the
Secretary for the Colonies sent a despatch, directing that
upon its receipt, if Mr. Tarrant's health was seriously suf-
fering or in danger of suffering, he was to be removed from
the criminal part of the gaol to the debtors' side ; and the
instructions further went on to say, that whether his health
should be suffering or not, at the end of six months he must
be removed to the debtors' 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 should 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 a'low anytliag 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 hon. member thanked the house for 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) had 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, and remarked that Captain Engledue,
of the Isabel, had also acted in a manner to entitle him to
all praise, proceeded to reply to the question of the right hon.
baronet opposite with respect to recent 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 which the right hon. baronet had read from the
Times, it looked uncommonly like what sailors call "a mid-
shipman's yarn," for neither ho (Lord Clarence) nor his col-
leagues could make anything 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, and the Queen fell for! of her and carried
away her bowsprit. The Admiralty had received a detailed
report from the captain of the Diadem, but none from the
captain of the other ship. The other collision took place be-
tween the Algiers and the Mersey, and had occasioned but
slight damage. As to mismanagement on board the squad-
dron, no doubt whenever two vessels came into collision
there must hare been mismanagement on the one side or
on the other; generally on both, but at present he could not
apportion the blame in this case. In the case of a young
fleet, commanded by young officers and with raw crews, and
in such weather, accidents would sometimes happen, but
that only proved how necessary it was to keep the squadron
always at sea. (Hear.)
Sir C. NAPIER said that the blame lay in sending a
fleet to sea in the equinoctial gales, without having been
first properly exercised. Every sailor knew that the ship
on the port tack should 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 over trailed in a
fleet before.

DISTURBANCES IN ST.GEORGE'S-IN-THE-

EAST.

Mr. LYGOIN asked a question as to what instruction had
been given to the police with a view to the suppression of
the disturbances in St. George's-in-the-East. He feared
there was a great want of harmony between the police, the
rector, and the chnrohwardang. (A. lauEll.)
Sir fa. C. LEWIS was-afraid the Government would find
it a ditiieult 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.) it
had been the object of the police to take efficient means for
the preservation of thepeace during the celebration of divine 1