Sidor som bilder
PDF
ePub
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

The present Governor of Goa, Senhor Jose Pereira Pestanho, is President of the Provisional Committee.

The prospectus, which is now before us, is too long to be trans lated; but the plan appears to us to be sketched in it with con siderable skill and care. *95* 4.

The invitation to the Portuguese in India to promote the undertaking, is sufficient to prove the sincerity of the Projectors of the Bank. The basis of the sundertaking is placed upon the following declaration; "The Epoch of discoveries, of conquests, and also of organic efforts, has passed for the Portuguese; it is therefore their duty now to promote their own material interests.'' -Bombay Gentleman's Gazette, Oct. 13. des

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[merged small][ocr errors]

GAMBLING.On Thursday last, Mr. May having heard that a regular gambling establishment bad located themselves near Burn's Point, in the neighbourbood of a sing-song mat-house, proceeded in the evening, with two or three policemen, to inspect the new settlement. A mat-house, with eight tables, was each. Undeterred by the

found, and a goober are three hundred in all), they

large assemblage

two

succeeded in seizing and bringing off five of the parties engaged in play, who were placed next morning at the bar of the police magistrate. One who was proved to be a principal was sentenced to pay a fine of twenty dollars and suffer a month's imprisonment; other two, who had been registered, were to pay a fine of ten dollars, or be imprisoned for fifteen days; and other two, who were not registered, were to be flogged and turned off the island. Hong Kong Register.

[ocr errors]

DOMESTIC. BIRTHS.

[ocr errors]

BURN, the wife of Capt. of the ship Caledonia, at Macao, s. Sept. 27. FRASER, the lady of Capt. of the ship Bombay Castle, at Hong Hong, s. Sept. 23.

KERR, the lady of Crawford, at Victoria, d. Sept. 8.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small]
[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

19.-British bark William and James, Brown, from Sin"! gapore 28th August, for London,

20.-British ship Duilius, Underhill, from China 18th July, for London.

We find the following items of news in these papers :

ON THE 21ST AUGUST, Sheik Abdullah Bin Omar Djowas, master of the schooner Asegauf, with his son and eleven of the crew of the said vessel, arrived at Blingoe, in the island of Banea, in a sampan, who reported that that vessel, which left Sumanap on the 4th August, was lost on the 11th, near the coast of Borneo, on one of the sandbanks surrounding the island of Mankap. Six others of the crew embarked in another sampan; but after keeping in company with the master for three days, separated from him during a stormy night, and have not been heard of since.

THE Courant of the 11th ultimo mentions that a destructive fire took place at 10 o'clock on the forenoon of the 3rd September, in the new China campong at Djawana, in the residency of Japara, which, fanned by a strong wind, destroyed seventeen Chinese and twenty-four native houses. The loss from this fire is calculated at f 18,000.

CAPTAIN HOCKSTRA, of the Dutch ship Suzanna Christina, reports that on the 5th August, on his voyage to Sourabaya, he discovered a bank in latitude 5o 48′ and long. 107° 44′—which was indicated by the change in the colour of the water, and which runs from north to south, in length about 2 cables. In running over it, 10, 91, 7, 6}, and 5 fathoms water were found upon it, deepening to 10 and 11 fathoms. A fishing-stake, with. a small flag, was placed at the spot having 61 fathoms water.

THE Courant of 3rd September records that some very severe shocks of an earthquake had been felt between half-past one and two o'clock in the afternoon, on the 20th July last, at Amboyna, which were followed on the evening of the same day, and on the following night, by slighter shocks. On the evening of the 21st, two heavy shocks were felt between half-past six and seven o'clock. Up to the 22nd August, slight shocks continued to be felt. The Government-house at Batoe Gadja suffered so much as to cause its abandonment; the newly erected military hospital also suffered damage, and the private houses have generally suffered slightly. The shocks appeared to proceed from the east, were nearly all vertical, and were accompanied by a rustling noise.

PRIVATE LETTERS from Batavia mention the arrival of the new Governor-General, M. Rochussen, who landed on the 29th September, under every honour due to his station. Singapore Free Press.

MAULMEIN.

DESERTION FROM H. M's 94TH FOOT.-A letter from Moul. main mentions that four men of H. M's 94th foot had deserted to Martaban on the 2nd of September. The foolish fellows went over on a spree, and were then afraid to return through dread of the expected consequences, though it is known from a Burmese that they are very anxious to do so. Their condition is described as deplorably wretched, for though under no restraint from the Burmese authorities, the men have been obliged to sell nearly all their clothes for subsistence, and were reduced to the greatest distress. A man of H. M's 84th, who deserted eleven months ago, gave himself up last month to the Moulmain authorities. He described his sufferings as so intense, that he would rather undergo any punishment than submit longer to the wretchedness that he had experienced since his desertion from his regiment.-Madras U. S. Gazette, Oct. 14.

THE WEATHER.-We are glad to learn that the men of the 91th are very healthy, and like Moulmain exceedingly. A strong rumour prevailed of a reduction in the force, and that no Europeans, except two companies of artillery, are to be kept in the Tenasserim provinces; we should hardly think that goverments can contemplate a reduction, which indeed seems scarcely prudent, notwithstanding the present pacific aspect of Burmah politics; though certainly if any hostile attempts on the settlement were apprehended, a regiment, or brigade of Europeans, could be landed there, thanks to steam, within a fortnight. It was further rumoured that the right wing of the 94th was to be relieved at Aden by the 2nd B. E. L. I., and the entire regiment to be transferred to the Bengal presidency.

The commissioner, left Moulmein on the 3rd, in the Proserpine steamer, for Tavoy and Mergui. There has been, we understand, a decided split in the Moulmein cabinet, between the commissioner and his principal assistant, Major Macleod, and the matter has been referred to the Supreme Government. Our correspondent does not mention particulars, but states that the latter is a very popular man, and possesses the confidence of every one in the provinces, of which he has such great experience, that it is generally thought the interests of the Company would have been best consulted had Major Macleod been appointed to succeed Major Broadfoot, c.B., as commissioner.

[ocr errors]

medal, he said he had determined not to wear it until they could de uso also, We are sorry to learn that a party of the 25th disgraced themselves, and the "gallant a regiment to which they belong, "on the evening of the 5th, by committing a most brutal and cowardly murder. In consequence of some ill-feeling (of long standing, and arising from an absurdly trivial cause), a party of some thirty or forty men way. laid and deliberately beat out the brains of a sepoy of the 8th regiment, with bludgeons, when returning, unarmed and defenceless, with a few friends (two of whose skulls they also fractured), from the lines of the 12th regiment to his own. The dastardly deed was committed about eight o'clock in the evening, in the very middle of the cantonments. The two men so desperately wounded, one a sepoy of the 12th, and the other of the murdered man's own regiment, were, when our letters left it still in a pre carious state. The ring-leaders and principals were subsequently identified, four in number, and were to be tried on the 11thiTM. There is said to be no doubt as to the result, the evidence before the inquest having been clear and conclusive. The 25th had been entertained by the station on the 9th, and by the 8th regi ment the previous evening. Sir Charles Napier, in," says our correspondent, "the best speech I ever heard from him," spoke in deservedly handsome terms of their good services in Scinde, and bade them farewell with much feeling and good taste. The farewell order, too, is simple, "The old

man," says another friend, just, and appropriate. errs, when he speaks as a soldier to soldiers. Would that he he had never gone out of his line, for his own fame. Would so indeed. *

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors]

FIRE ON BOARD THE MADONNA. The bark Madonna, Capt. Miller, from Portsmouth to Ceylon, put into Table Bay on Friday evening, the 3rd inst., about 7 p.m. The captain reports, that on the 26th September, about 10 p.m., a strong smell of fire gave reason to fear that the cargo, consisting of coals, had ignited, but no smoke was discovered until the 29th, when about 60 tons of coals were thrown overboard, in order to endeavour to reach the fire, which was supposed to be somewhat about the main hatchway; water was also copiously applied, but the smoke and vapour increasing, they made for Table Bay, which was reached at the time above stated, when the ship was beached. After discharging her cargo, the Madonna was got Poff again on Sunday evening last. Zuid Afrikaan, Oct. 10.

The rains at Moulmein this season 'are said to have been terrific no less than 180 inches bad fallen between the 15th May and 4th October, up to which time the monsoon still continued. -Ibid.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

STATE OF SHIKAR POOR.-Our latest Upper Sindh letters are not quite so encouraging respect to the health of the troops, as they promised to prove by previous accounts. Sickness is certainly on the increase at Shikarpoor, and the outpost of Shahpoor could only be relieved by attaching some twenty of the legion cavalry. The men at Meerpoor and Mohareekpoor were to stand fast, it is believed, as a relief could not be afforded. In the legion about twenty per cent. were laid up, but the fevers are said to be mild compared with those of last year. Fears are chiefly entertained on account of dysentery. A good deal of good had been effected by sending the men out of cantonments, to a place a mile off, on the other side of the city, where their convalescence has been rapid, as the men are there separated from the evil influences of climate and the flooded lands in the vicinity of canton ments. The spot is described as high and airy. Several ka filahs had come into Shikarpoor, “but such a miserable shew of things called horses was seldom seen." Delhi Gazette, Oct. 18. MURDER OF A SEPOr. We have letters from Kurrachee, dated the 8th and 10th inst. Two steamers had been in the harbour since the 3rd of the month, in waiting to carry the head-quarters of the e sappers and miners and the 25th Bombay Infantry to Bombay. They were to embark on the evening of the 10th. Sir Charles Napier is said to have been much annoyed and disappointed at not receiving the Sindh medals by the opportunity, as he was naturally anxious to present them to the 25th before leaving the land of their really gallant services through a prolonged period of five years. Some mistake appears to have been made by the Bombay officials, as the medals. were actually advised as dispatched by one of these steamers, but only a small box containing some 40 Kandahar medals came to hand. As some of these were won by the 25th, his Excellency ordered out all the troops on the 6th, and presented them, expressing his regret and disappointment, that it was not permit ted him to decorate them with those awarded by their Queen for Meeanee and Hydrabad; and though he had received his own

[ocr errors]

LOCAL REVENUE.-From a comparative statement of actual revenue and expenditure for the third quarters of the years 1844 and 1845, it appears, that whilst the expenditure for the third quarter of 1844 exceeded the revenue by 2,737. 18s. 14d.; the revenue for the same peried during 1845, exceeded the expenditure by 34,8491. 18s. 4 d. The total revenue from 1st July to 30th September, 1844, amounted to 40,555l. 8s. 34d, and the expenditure to 43,293/. 6s. 43d. For the same period in 1845, the former amounts to 77,4221. 11s. 944., and the latter to 42,572l. 13s. 4jd. This increase on the quarter for 1845 principally arises from 28,705, 178, 91d, realized from Guano licences and an increase in the custom and other departments. Ibid.

LOCUSTS.-Extract of a letter from Fort Beaufort, dated 29th Sept. 1845" That awful scourge, the locusts, have again made their appearance in the neighbourhood of Klaas Smit's River," and in fearful myriads are moving slowly but certainly towards → the Winterberg, where a few small swarms have already been Been, and in the neighbourhood of the Kat River they have voca destroyed some of the young crops. Andries Pretorious has lost... the whole of his. At this time of the year these unpleasant visitors are the sure harbingers of famine, and a dire plague to this part of the country. Should they continue to move forward our farmers will be saved the expense of reaping their scanty crops."-G. T. Journal, Oct. 2.

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small]
[ocr errors][ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

civil service, s. at

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

A NEW ZEALAND.

Additional information respecting the late melancholy occurrence in New Zealand has been received. The Sydney Star of August gives the following extract from a private letter:

« On Wednesday, the 8th July, we found a way of getting our large guns to the top of the hill not far distant from the pah, and firing down on the enemy into the holes they had made to hide themselves. A number of the natives were destroyed, and in the night they evacuated and retired into the woods, so that we were unable to follow them." The account further adds, that four pieces of cannon were taken, and Heki's colours had been secured. By the 14th, the troops had returned to Weimate, the missionary station, and were to be early housed. Heki with his forces proceeded to as pah, twenty miles to the south, and which, being on a lofty mountain, was almost inaccessible. The same paper publishes some letters from Colonel Despard, but they are merely the official aunouncements. Subsequently another pah belonging to one of Heki's adherents was taken and burnt, It was stated that Colonel Despard did not intend to attack Heki at present. Two hundred and eighty of the 58th regiment were to proceed from Sydney to New Zealand, for which purpose the detach ments at Moreton Bay and Bathurst were called into headquarters at Paramatta, whence they would be forwarded. It was rumoured that Sir M. O'Connell would accompany these. Lieut. colonel Jackson, in command of the 99th, had issued an order for the officers of that regiment to wear mourning from the 25th of July to the 16th of August for their brother-officer, Lieut. Beattie.

NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

[ocr errors]

The communication of I. S. C. is of considerable interest, though hardly suited to our columns. He had better send it to a magazine.

ment, are calculated to benefit India, and because we are convinced that all unnecessary delay in commencing their construction is to be lamented, as a postponement of the increase and diffusion of wealth among the people, as well as of the development and concentration of the strength and resources of the Government.

THE present Governor-General of India has distinguished himself beyond most of his predecessors by the zeal which he has displayed in the cause of education, and the encouragement which he has extended to it. Until within a few weeks the press was unanimous in rendering him praise on this head, and all parties appeared to be satisfied. A cloud has, however, come over the fair scene; a writer in a recent number of the Friend of India, under the signature of "A Friend to Education," has attacked the mode in which it is proposed to carry out the professed design of the Government to bestow its patronage on educated, in pre ference to uneducated natives; and the editor comes to the support of his correspondent in a leading article. The ob

PRESBYTER may rest assured that we shall not lose sight of the jections taken to the course proposed by the Council of subject to which he draws our attention.

A JUVENILE READER OF INDIAN HISTORY has a great deal to read before he will be qualified to write on the subject to which he alludes.

We are much gratified by the good opinion of MOHUN Lal.

ALLEN'S INDIAN MAIL,

LONDON,

SATURDAY, December 6, 1845.

3rdly. That the

Education, as far as we can collect them (for they are not
very explicitly stated), are three:-1st. That the effect of
the Council's plan will be to limit the patronage of the
Government to the people of Calcutta. 2ndly. That the
standard of acquirement is fixed too high.
tests are of such a nature as to exclude candidates who have
received instruction in Christian seminaries, and give to the
pupils of pagan schools a monopoly of the proffered boon
of official preference.

The first of the three is the only one which strikes us as
tenable. If the proposed regulations will have the effect of
restricting within local limits a benefit which should be
opened to all within the wide expanse of our Indian domi
nions, it affords matter for deep regret, as well as for very
severe blame upon those by whom the regulations have
been framed. All partiality in such a case should be
avoided; but if any could be excusable, it would certainly
not be that which should have the effect of sacrificing the
country to the capital. If, therefore, through inadvertence
(for we cannot believe that it can have occurred except
through inadvertence), such be the effect of the rules pro-

THE engineers and surveyors appointed to examine and report on the best means of affording to India the benefit of railway communication have now entered on their work, and before the lapse of any long period we may expect to know something of the results of their inquiries. When their opinions shall be ascertained, the Government will, without doubt, be prepared to determine to which lines they will afford encouragement, in what manner, and to what extent. At home the subject will not slumber. The capitalists of this country, disgusted with the many bubble schemes which have disgraced the home market, and with the job-pounded by the Council of Education, we trust that no delay bery and fraud which have characterized so many plans which, by the aid of a seducing prospectus, have gained a certain degree of notice from the public, and secured a certain measure of advantage to their projectors, will turn to a country where railways are really needed, and where, if judiciously executed, they will produce an adequate return of profit. We wait with much anxiety the results of the inquiries now in progress, because we are convinced that railways, beyond all other physical means of improve

will take place in revising them. The "Friend of Education" justly observes, that "natives will neither be willing nor able to come from a distance to the Town Hall" of Calcutta for examination. On this ground he proposes a system of local examination and registration, which, without pledging ourselves to an approbation of its details, we are bound to say is absolutely essential, if the patronage of the Government is to be dispensed with any regard to com mon justice.

On the second point we differ altogether both from the Friend of India and his correspondent. If any thing worthy of the name of learning is to be encouraged, the test must not be a low one. India is not to be rescued from her present condition of mental darkness by the communication of a little peddling elementary knowledge, a smattering of natural history, a smattering of geography, a smattering, perhaps, of grammar. Water spread over the entire surface of a country in a thin sheet creates a stagnant marsh; collected into deep channels it becomes the source of universal enjoyment and prosperity. It is much the same with knowledge. We may rest assured that in every country, where a high standard is not aimed at, nothing will be accomplished that is worth an effort-nothing that will effectively raise the character of the people. Impart only to a few minds sound, solid instruction in language and science; educate them not for shew, but for service; and the beneficial effects will in due time appear in the influence which those educated in such a manner will have on their fellows, and in the desire which will be created for the acquisition of attainments similar to theirs. That mongrel state of half-knowledge when, to use the well-known simile of Dr. Johnson, "learning is like victuals in a besieged town-every man has a mouthful and no man a bellyful," is one from which we sincerely hope that India will be preserved. We cannot do all that the zealous would desire, or all that the sanguine may hope for; but let us at least take care that what we do is done wel and efficiently—that it is executed with workmanlike skill and not with the bungling hand of a tinker. In England the revival and diffusion of learning is chiefly owing to the numerous grammar-schools which sprang up over the country, in which the higher branches of knowledge, as far as language was concerned, were studied and rendered familiar to a large body of youth. Had these schools been established for the purpose of giving elementary instruction in reading and writing only, what would have been the result? A paralysis of the national mind; a stagnation of the flow of intellect; a universal cramping of the powers of thought by restricting them to petty objects. And such will be the effect every where if those who are anxious to diffuse education are not mindful of quality as well as of quantity. Especially will this be the case in India, where the mind, long imprisoned in thick darkness, requires more peculiarly the bracing influence of severe study to enable it to regain its natural vigour. The Friend of India sneers (not much in the spirit of a friend) at making a knowledge of Shakspeare, "Addison and Johnson, Whewell and Brinkley, Herschell and Somerville, indispensable to office." Now we are not called upon to discuss the question whether holding out the prospect of official employment as the reward of literary attainment be or be not the best mode of encouraging learning, for the Friend of India himself approves of it, provided the tests be framed according to his own standard; but we do say, that if the cultivation of the learning of the West is to be encouraged among the natives of India, the object is to be effected by recommending to their study such authors as those above-named, rather than Dilworth, Dyche, Fenning, Vyse, Mavor, and their brethren of like calibre. We wish to see the native mind strengthened and invigorated, not merely crammed with a little commonplace information. We wish improvement to be progressive; but progress is far less likely to be secured by establishing in the first instance a low standard, and trusting that in time it may be advanced,

than by fixing a high one, which few will at first reach, but.. by the gradual effect of example and imitation will in course of time be within the power of many.

The third objection is, in our judgment, not less unreasonable than the second. The offence given by the Council of Education under this head seems to be, that in framing a course of examination for students of the English language, they have actually had the temerity to admit into it the works of an obscure and barbarous writer of the Elizabethan era named Shakspeare. In this respect, the character of the new rules, according to the Friend of India, " assumes a.. very singular appearance." We cannot help thinking that it would have assumed a more singular appearance" had ́ Shakspeare been passed over. But the operation of the rules, we are told, entails "glaring partiality." How? We should despair of explaining satisfactorily, and therefore the Friend of India shall speak for himself. "Let us suppose," says he, "the case of a youth brought up in a seminary other than the Hindoo College and its offshoots. He is required to construe a passage in Othello. He replies that plays are not class-books in missionary schools, but that he has read and is prepared to explain Milton and Cowper. Then, sirrah, the president may say, you are totally unfit for the public service of the British Government in India. It is not to be expected that society will tolerate the continuance of a system, the tendency of which is to throw the whole administration into the hands of institutions from which all religious instruction is excluded." We hope that society would not tolerate the continuance of any such system if it were ever introduced. We are warm friends to the progress of human knowledge, but still warmer to the extension of that knowledge which surpasses all other in importance as far as it eclipses all other in the grandeur of its revelations. We are anxious that India should partake with us of the blessings of human science, but far more anxious for the arrival of that appointed time (and arrive it assuredly will) when the light of divine truth shall penetrate the darkest recesses of India, and its myriad inhabitants shall rejoice in that light. Looking back on the past, we can see with sorrow and shame that our countrymen have been too often indifferent (not to say worse) to this result; but we are hopeful of the future, and we should lament the interposition of any let or hinderance to the glorious 1 consummation before us. But we must, in a spirit of truth and candour, remind the Friend of India, that if the rules of the Council of Education do exclude the pupils of missionary colleges from the benefits of examination in the first instance, and consequently from the ulterior advantages the fault is in those with whom the management of those colleges rests. Can any thing be more narrow-minded and captious than the answer put into the mouth of the supposed pupil, that "plays are not class-books in missionary schools?" We can understand why many plays should be excluded; we can understand why Congreve and Wycherley should be denied admission; but what sort of judgment must that be which excludes from a course of English study the author who stands at the head of English literature-its brightest ornament and proudest boast-Shakspeare, the first of poets, and in the first class of philosophic writers? And what must be thought of the ground of the exclusionthe form under which the magnificent genius of the poet was developed? He might have adopted the epic, or the lyric, or any other but the dramatic (perhaps the noblest of all), and he might have been read; but the

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

་་་་

[ocr errors]

of

choice which the peculiar bent of his genius imposed upon him is, according to the Friend of India, fatal. We are glad to find that Milton and Cowper are not under sentence of banishment; but the association startles a little. All honour to Cowper, say we, for the grace and variety of his numbers, his vigour of thought and language, the shrewdness, point, and brilliancy of his satire, the beauty and delicacy of his lighter compositions, the high moral and religious tone of those of graver character; all honour to Cowper which the most sanguine of his judicious admirers can claim for him; let him take place with Dryden and Pope, and other glorious writers of the same order; but we cannot help thinking that the modesty of Cowper would have recoiled from an attempt to elevate him to an equality with either Milton or Shakspeare. Then, too, we must have a word on that one of this incomparable pair whom the Friend of India is willing to honour. Do none of Milton's works find a place in the Friend's Index expurgato rius? Will the Friend pledge himself to the maintenance of the poet's doctrines on marriage and divorce? What says he to the heretical production not many years since exhumed and translated? Nay, what says he even to a portion o Milton's poetry? The Paradise Lost may be read, though if the same spirit of false decorum which is active elsewhere were applied to this noble work, some parts of it might place its reception in danger; but as dramatic works are excluded because they are dramatic, Samson Agonistes and Comus must be sealed to the eyes of the Indian student. But with such paltry and narrow-spirited trifling it is painful to contend. We cannot readily imagine any thing more bitterly to be deplored than the exclusion of the disciples of Christian schools in India from advantages which are open to the pupils of schools into which Christian instruction does not enter. But if th if this takes place, with whom will lie the fault? We are persuaded that there is no antagonism of sound learning to sound religion, and no necessary associa tion of manly and elegant literature with religious darkness and impurity. To profess to teach the English language, and to proscribe the study of one of its noblest authors is monstrous. So desirous are we for the removal of every obstacle from the way of the pupils of Christian schools, that if those who have the management of such schools will insist, in a spirit of bitter and blind prejudice, on interdicting the study of the greatest of our poets, we would make a compromise with them, and allow a candidate the option of being examined either in Shakspeare or Milton; feeling grateful and happy that the sins of the latter poet, dramatist though he be, are not sufficiently deep to demand his condemnation to oblivion. This step we should be willing to take in deference to a weak brother; whether or not the Council of Education will be equally accommodating we cannot tell; but if they should not, and if mischief should ensue, the blame, we must repeat, will rest upon the heads of those who maintain a ridiculous principle of literary exclusiveness. Julian the apostate thought to check the advance of Christianity by forbidding the children of Christians to be instructed in the works of the great masters of Greek and Roman literature. British Christian writers in the nineteenth century think they can promote the cause of their religion by forbidding access to the works of the greatest authors of their own countrydwa ni strpla

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

"

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

ACCORDING to a statement which lately appeared in our paper from a resident, there is something in the geological formation of Hong Kong which gives to the climate a depressing character. From two cases brought to our notice by the China papers, we should imagine that there must be something either in the soil or air which excites nervous irritability in an extraordinary degree.

[ocr errors]

975

D

[merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors]

In one case, the officiating sheriff is the chief actor. Hong Kong, like the parish of St. George's, Southwark, unfortunately contains a debtors' prison; and it seems that, until lately, those confined in it have enjoyed much the same measure of indulgence, as to intercourse with their legal advisers or private friends, as is accorded at home. This liberty the sheriff has thought fit to abridge, by directing that no person shall be admitted except by an order from himself, the deputy sheriff, or the jailer; and such orders, it is said, can only be obtained within certain hours, nor always then, as, according to the statement of the aggrieved prisoners (though the sheriff denies the fact), grant of orders has been refused. The prisoners fur ther state, that the ground assigned for issuing the offensive rule was the annoyance occasioned by persons passing. the door of the police-office on their way to the jail. If this be so, it is clear that the auricular organs of the Hong Kong officials must be in a very high state of nervous excitement; but, as any enhancement of the unavoidable evils of imprisonment, out of tenderness to shrieval ears, is to be deprecated, we would suggest the enactment of a law that all passers by the police-office should, like Lear's troop of horse, be" shod with felt." The sheriff, indeed, offers another reason, resting on the danger of escape, and his own liability if escape take place. The Marshal of the Queen's Bench is, in like manner, liable in case of escape, and we apprehend that the number of persons in his custody cannot be less than those under the care of the Sheriff of Hong Kong; yet we believe any one within reasonable hours may walk into the Queen's Bench prison, though a great deal of ceremony is considered necessary to qualify for entering the prison of Hong Kong. If the sheriff be so dreadfully nervous on the subject of escape, we may expect in time that he will go a little further, and deny all access whatever to the prisoners. This would greatly diminish the chances of escape, and thus tend mightily to the restoration of the afflicted functionary's peace of mind. What are the sufferings of a parcel of insolvents compared with the repose of an officiating sheriff? That officer need not, we think, despair of being to carry the ulterior measure which we have ventured to suggest; for his conduct in abridging the privilege of intercourse having been brought to the notice of the Governor, has b the Governor, has been by that authority approved. The pri soners, it is declared by the officiating colonial secretary, "do not appear to be borne out in the accusations which they have advanced;" but, as the chief accusation—that of restricting the intercourse of the prisoners with those seeking access to them-is not denied, this official statement would seem not to be altogether "borne out.

6

2

The other instance of morbid irritability of the nervous system was briefly noticed at the conclusion of our last Summary. A Mr. Welch and some friends were amusing themselves, by singing in the private house of Mr. Welch, at the hour of half-past ten

at night, within ear-shot of the major-general commanding her Majesty's forces in Hong

Kong, on whose nerves the hilarious sounds produced such to surf war: 1osing (gen etoin brs ~ngin

« FöregåendeFortsätt »