The Sun. — 1844-03-23 (London, England)

WRECKS OF THE NERBUDDA AND ANN.  Dr. BOWRING put the question, of which he had given notice—Whether any reply has 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 native authorities had been advanced in rank b' .the Emperor of China ; he wished to know if any punishment 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 British vessels were wrecked on the coast of Formosa, and after the sailors . and passengers had been detained a :considerable '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 punishinent would beinflicted _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. Emperor on the subject of the British subjects who were put to death on tho 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 civilised 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, be had ordered all who had obtained a promotion of rank by their false representations to 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 purpos'e of being tried ;Jay the miller authorities, and having _such further pshment inflicted upon them as their crime deserved. Now he really thought, upon the whole, this proclamation was all that could be expected. They there saw the. adyantage ,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. Wien' recently place in Suffolk.' It was well known that several such fires • had-taken place.- The Hon. GentleMan,then read an. extract :from an address delivered by the Chairman of Quarter Sessions, in whibh he expressed his astonishment that the rural police had not been able to detect any of 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 y•et been discovered. Although the crime might be frequent, it was still difteult of, deteation: Ho had ' thought it mecessar)- • to send some assistance to` the rural police froin-tlie me • tropolitan force, but he was sorry to say that', up to the present time no detection had taken place: • Lord HENNIKER rose amidst loud cries of ‘‘ Order; orderi'' btit. 'was at length. allowed to . proceed. - Be said. the ,fires in the county which he had the honour to represent—namely, Suffolk—were so frequent, 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 awfurconflagration. He believed thaVone fire had taken, place y6terday ; but it was quite true- that, up to that moment,..not one of the offenders had been detected. •