The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-23 00:00:00

NOTICES OF MOTION.

Mr. FITZSTEPHEN FRENCH gave notice that on
Tuesday he should move for certain returns on the sub-
ject of the working of the Tithe Commutation Act in
Ireland. _ _ _ _

Mr. EWART gave notice that he would take the
earliest opportunity, upon the house going into a Com-
mittee of Supply, of moving for the abolition of the
duties on raw materials, and for a reduction of those
duties which tend to encourage smuggling.

ROYAL COMMISSION.
Sir A. Clifford, Usher of the Black Rod, appeared
at the table, and summoned the Rouse to the House of
Lords to hear the Royal Assent, given by Commission,
to several Bills.

The SPEAKER, accompanied by several Members, then
proceeded to the other House. On his return,
The SPEAKER announced that the Royal Assent had
been given to several Bills, (for which see Lords' report).
Dr. BOWRING withdrew the motion which he had
on the paper for the 2d of April, relative to our treaty
o commerce with the Ottoman empire.
Colonel WOOD gave notice that, on going into Corn-

mittee on the Commons Inclosure Bill, he would move
the adoption of resolutions to the effect, that it was ex-
pedient to have a Bonrd cousigting of a superintendent
and two vice-superintendents, to whom (as we under-
stood) the subject should be referred.

WRECKS OF THE NERBUDDA AND ANN.

Dr. BOWRING put the question, of- which ho had
given notice—Whether any reply bas been received from
the Government of Pekin, in answer to the application
• made for the punishment of the authorities of the Island
of Formosa, who ordered the murder of the crews of the
Nerbudda and Ann ? Two hundred of the crews of these
vessels fell into the hands of the natives, and were treated
with great cruelty by them, the greater proportion of
them being subsequently murdered. He wished to know
whether any redress had been obtained or promised
for this outrage. It was understood that the na-
tive authorities had been advanced in rank by the
Emperor of China ; he wished to know if any punish-
ment was likely to be inflicted on them for this violation
of the laws of nations and humanity.
Sir R. PEEL said he believed the statement of the
Hon. Gentleman was substantially correct. Two Bri-
tish vessels were wrecked on the coast of Formosa,
and after the sailors and passengers had been
detained a consider able time, and suffered.
great privations, many of them were put to death. Sir
H. Pottinger made a representation to the Emperor of
China, stating that the British Government viewed the
transaction with great regret, and trusted that signal
punishment would be inflicted on the authorities of the
island: He must say that he thought the statement
of the Emperor in reply to him was a very satisfactory
one, and worthy of a ruler of a great country. A
proclamation was inserted in the Pekin Gazette, of which
Sir Henry Pottinger spoke in high terms. He stated
he had seen with great pleasure the decree of the Em-
peror on the subject of the British subjects who were
put to death on the island of Formosa, and he was
sure it would be received with great satisfaction
by his Government. That proclamation he (Sir
Robert Peel) thought exhibited as great a desire
to do justice as he had ever seen on the part of a civi-
lised State. The Emperor alleged in the proclamation
that he had been entirely deceived by the Chinese
authorities of Formosa, who stated that the crews of.the
ships landed with arms in their hands, and were
taken as prisoners of war. He had ordered
an inquiry into their conduct, and finding
that they had deceived him, •he had ordered
all who had obtained a promotion of rank by their false ,
representations 4o be degraded from it, and to ,
be handed over to the Board of Punishment,
The Emperor had therefore disgraced all the parties
concerned, and had caused them to be removed-
for the purpose of being tried by the regular
authorities, and having such further punish-
ment inflicted upon them as their crime de-
served. Now he really thought, upon the whole, this
proclamation was all that could be expected. They there
saw the advantage of increased intercourse between
civilised countries.
INCENDIARY FIRES.

Colonel FOX begged to ask the Right Hon. Gentle-
man the Secretary of State for the Home Department,
whether any steps had been taken by the Government in
consequence of the numerous incendiary fires which had
recently taken place in Suffolk. It was well known that
several such fires had taken place. The Hon. Gentle-
man then read an extract from an address delivered by
the Chairman of Quarter Sessions, in which he expressed
his astonishment that the rural police had not been able
to detect any df the offenders.
Sir J. GRAHAM said it was undoubtedly true that
several incendiary fires had taken place in Suffolk within
a recent period, and that, though every attempt
had been made, no offender had as yet been discovered.
Although the crime miat be frequent, it was still
difficult of detection. He had thought it necessary
to send some assistance to the rural police from the me•
tropolitan force, but he was sorry to sarthat, up to the
present time no detection had taken place.
Lord HENNIKER rose amidst loud cries of " Order,
order," but was at length alloWed to proceed. He
said the fires in the county which he had the
honour to represent—namely, Suffolk—were so fre-
quent, that it was matter of wonder when there were
none.—(Hear, hear.) He himself had been called up at
two o'clock in the morning, and had witnessed a most
awful conflagration. He believed that one fire had taken
place yesterday ; but it was quite true that, up to that
moment, not one of the offenders had been detected.
INDIA.

Mr. MANGLES gave notice that he would
move for a return of the letters to the Board of Control
from the late Lord Hastings, dated the 19th December'
1809, and the Ist of March, 1810, or extracts therefrom'
Sir ROBERT PEEL was understood to say that he
had no objection to the return of the letters, but if the
Hon. Member moved for extracts, that would be a matter
of discretion.
PR E'VENTION OF SMOKE.

Mr. HINDLEY begged to ask the Hon. Member for
Lymington (Mr. Mackinnon), as Chairman of the Com-
mittee appointed to inquire respecting the nuisance of
smoke in towns, whether it was intended to found any
measure upon the Report of that Committee?
Mr. MACKINNON said that the Committee's RepOrt
recommended that a Bill should be passed on the subject,
but the Government declined to introduce such a mea-
sure; and, therefore, he, as Chairman of the Committee,
would feel it his duty to propose a Bill.
THE ARRESTS IN THE 76Tu REGIMENT.

Mr. GILL rose, pursuant to notice, with a view to ob-
viate an erroneous impression produced by the state-
ment of the Secretary-at-War on the 12th instant, to call
the attention of the House to the detention of Captain
Brewster of the 76th regiment, under arrest for eight
months, without any charge being made against him, and
to ask the Right Hon. Gentleman whether he had any ob-
jection to communicate to the House the order from the
Horse Guards for that officer's relief and admonition?
On a former occasion the Right Hon. and Gallant Officer
(Sir H. Hardinge) was reported to have said as these
officers had violated their duty they had been put under
arrest, and they would be kept under arrest foF a
short time longer. That statement was incorrect ;
but he was sure the inaccuracy did not attach
to the Gallant Officer (Sir Henry Hardinge), whom
everybody in that House, and out of it, knew
to be incapable of stating anything but what was fully
borne out by facts. The effect of such inaccuracy might,
however, be injurious to the character of Captain
Brewster, and he (Mr. Gill) therefore mentioned the sub-
ject, that, should any {imputation rest upon him, it might
be removed. The two officers referred to were or-
dered under arrest by another officer, who was
present at some proceeding which had taken
place, and who had subsequently communicated to the
commanding officer what bad taken place. Now he
(Mr. Gill) found, by the articles of war, that no officer
was liable to arrest, except for an offence committed,
and that it was the duty of the party putting an officer
under arrest immediately to take steps for instituting an
inquiry. When he stated to the House that Captain
Brewster had not been guilty of any offence
whatever, he thought lie was not asking too much when
lie tried to have an imputation removed from his cha-
racter. After being five months under arrest, Captain
Brewster wrote a letter to his commanding officer,
begging it might be forwarded to the Major-General in
command of the district, and which in!reated to know
under what charge he was labouring, and stated
that if any offence had been committed by him, he
would cheerfully submit to such punishment as the
Commander-in-Chief might think fit. Subsequently two
letters were written by General Brewster—one of them
to his Grace the Duke of Wellington, and the other to
Lord Fitzroy Somerset. The Noble Duke, in his reply
to General Brewster, said he was aware his son was
under arrest, and as certain regulations were being pre-
pared on the subject of duelling, it was intended that
these officers should be made subject to them when
completed. Notwithstanding these letters, these two
officers were continued under arrest three months longer.
He complained, on the part of these gentlemen, of their
having suffered the long arrest they had done, and that
arrest without some explanation from the Right
Hon. Baronet might injure the character of Captain
Brewster. Although the articles of war stated that no
officer should be kept under arrest for more than eight
days before he was tried, that course had not been adopted
in the present case. He thought the House would agree
with him, that this severe punishment was uncalleefor.
He wished to know whether the Right Hon. Baronet had
any objection to communicate to the House a copy of the
order of the Horse Guards for the liberation of these
gentlemen, and the admonition given to them ?
Sir IL HARDINGE had a strong objection to produce
the papers—first, because it would form a bad precedent ;
and secondly, because the proceedings took place under
a private warrant. Captain Brewster had violated mi-
litary discipline, by immediately accepting a challenge
from a young and inexperienced officer. He would
frankly confess, as to the other point, that there was no
imputation on the character of Captain Brewster.