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Penang,

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

The following gentlemen have been nominated as justices of the peace for Penang, Singapore, and Malacca, viz.-K. Murchison, J. Anderson, T. Church, W. E. Fullerton, P. O. Carnegy, C. W. H. Wright, R. Caunter, E. Presgrave, J. Pattulo, W. T. Lewis, S. G. Bonham, A. L. Johnston, C. R. Read, J. A. Max. well, and H. Syme, esqrs.

MURDER BY PIRATES.

In noticing, in our register of the 28th Nov., an official report made from the H, C. schooner Zephyr, of her falling in with a piratical force of twelve prahus, we mentioned that two natives belonging to a boat recaptured from the pirates, stated that an European boat's crew of six men, said to be from Malacca, were murdered by the pirates a few days before the Zephyr discovered the latter. We regret that we have now to confirm the fact of five unhappy men out of six, deserters from the H. C. ship Inglis when she was at Singapore, having fallen victims to the fury of those barbarians; the sixth, by name Benjamin Sly, having been most miraculously preserved "to tell the tale;" which will be found in the following substance of his deposition made to the police magistrate. The scene of this horrid tragedy must have been a little to the southward of the Sambelang islands; but the wretched weakly state of the poor survivor does not at present admit of his very distinct recollection of circumstances.

"That deponent was a seaman on board the H. C. ship Inglis. That himself and five others named Simon Powers, Hugh Cooper, Edward Jones, Smith and John Driscoll, deserted with the ship's jolly boat in Singapore harbour, about dusk on the evening of the 7th October last. That the sixth day after leaving the ship, and third day after passing Malacca, they descried four large and one small pirate prahus in the straits pulling towards them. On coming alongside, about dusk in the evening, several of the pirates, armed with spears and other weapons, jumped into the boat, speared and wounded the Europeans, then threw them overboard, and killed them whilst in the water, except one who attempted to escape by swimming, but sunk and was drowned. Deponent being but slightly wounded with a spear, and being able to swim, escaped unobserved to the shore, which was a considerable distance off. The name of the place deponent landed at he does not know. After wandering in the jungles for five days, he again arrived at the beach, and seeing a fishing boat pass, hailed it, and was taken on board and carried to a place which de

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THE TARTAR REBELLION.

Recent accounts from Peking, after detailing the third great victory over the Mahommedan rebels, who in the last two conflicts, brought in the field 100,000 men, state that after the last battle, along the whole course of the river Yangta ma, all the Mahommedan villages and people were exterminated by the imperial troops.

On Chang ling, the commander-inchief, the emperor has conferred a "purple bridle," the badge of kung yay, or dukedom. On the two next in command he has bestowed the title of guardians of the heir-apparent,

On the inferior generals and officers he has conferred the Tartar title of Pa too loo, prefaced by the words brave, valiant, enterprizing, &c. &c.

To these he has added, archery thumb rings, with "fourfold joy" written on them; gem-handled swords; flint firestriking pouches; a right to walk before the imperial gate, &c. &c.; inserted, with all the proper names of persons and circumstances, to the extent of several pages of the gazette.

To these is appended a promise, on the part of his imperial majesty, that on the day to which he can now point when their victories will be completed, that he will confer still higher rewards and honours on the victors.-Malacca Observer.

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a great extent, by hanging, taking poison, cutting the throat, and drowning. The married and unmarried, wives and concubines, mistresses and servants, from disgust, from suffering, and from revenge, are all occasionally guilty of this crime against nature. And from some superstitious opinion that virgins will become superhuman beings, called Shinseen, it occurs that seven young women swear not to marry, and if urged to do so, join hand in hand and drown altogether.

The Fooyuen of Canton has published a proclamation interdicting a sort of lock-up place used by the police. He reveals great cruelty and injustice practised by the understrappers in this pagan plausible country. In litigations about marriages and lands, a summons being issued, a police runner puts himself into a chair, gets boys to follow as servants with his lictors under command, and seizes the whole kindred of the litigating parties; brings them bound, and puts them into what they call a "fire-room," which is a room swimming with water on the floor, which water is raised into steam by fires curiously applied, and there the innocent are confined till they pay for mercy and admission to the fresh air, &c. &c. chair, and food, and fees amount to tens, or hundreds, or thousands of taels, ac cording to the wealth and number of the implicated.

The

The Kwang-chow.foo has issued an official document, enforcing greater decorum on the students who attend the public examinations. The struggle and conflict for precedence manifested by them, he considers quite unbecoming literary men who "love themselves."

The Aso-tang of Macao has subjected himself to a pasquinade for having with one hand received a bribe of 250 taels a month to connive at a gambling-house, and with the other issued a moralizing proclamation, à la Chinois.

In Shan se province, during the 2d moon of the present year, earthquakes occurred, which drew down hundreds of houses, and crushed beneath their ruins thousands of human beings.

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BIRTH

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Nov. 17. At Macao, the lady of Capt. Oaks, of the ship Isabella Robertson, of a son.

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Liddy forms "DEATHS.

Sept. 18 At Whampoa, Capt. Thomas Brydin, of the ship Charles Forbes, of Bombay, aged 36. Nov. 19. At Whampoa, on board the ship Golconda, of spasmodic cholera, Patrick Scott, Esq., chief officer of the ship.

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To Brig.-General Alexander Walker,
Governor, &c.

Sir: The warm interest you have at all times taken in the welfare of the farmers, since your arrival in this island; the considerate kindness which you have invariably evinced in your intercourse with them; the strenuous efforts you have made to alleviate as much as possible any distress which, owing to repeated bad seasons, did exist amongst them; and the station to which, owing to your patronage, they have been raised during your government, render it an imperious, but at the same time most pleasing duty for them, not to let you depart, without offering you some testimonial of the affectionate regard and esteem which they entertain for so many acts of consideration and kindness.

It is therefore, that the undersigned farmers respectfully beg you will be pleased, Sir, to accept this cup, as a mark of the sincere feelings of gratitude and esteem which they have for you; sincerely trusting you will allow them to flatter themselves with the hope that, when far removed from them, it will at times recall to your memory the affectionate regard with which the farmers of St. Helena look upon an individual to whom they are under so many obligations.

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(Signed by eighteen persons.) St. Helena, 10th April, 1828.

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z difa. L. No 2.***E be dam From the Members of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of St. Helena. To Brigadier General A. Walker, Go vernor, &c., President of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of St. Helena.

Honourable Sir: With sentiments of the highest esteem and veneration, the members of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society feel themselves impe

riously

riously called upon to express their deep regret at your appproaching departure from among them, and to testify to you, Honourable Sir, the grateful and respectful sense they must ever entertain for your unwearied zeal, continued exertion, and friendly counsel, in every thing that could encourage and promote the interests of the members of the Society.

We cannot but call to mind, Honourable Sir, that at the time of your arrival no such society existed on this island. Your enlarged views of political economy induced you, on your passage hither, to frame a plan for its establishment; and you bad scarcely commenced your auspicious government, when you proposed it for our consideration, and with truly parental regard carried your designs into effect. The happy consequence has been, that agriculture, which before was followed rather as a trade, has now become a productive science; emulation has been excited, and every individual has been proud to receive the encomia of his superiors and of his fellow-citizens, when the successful results of his labour have gained him the reward of public notice. No less pleasing is it to record, that the half-yearly shows, which by your wisdom have been established, have proved a powerful auxiliary, by ex citing an anxiety amongst the candidates of all classes to distinguish themselves by the superiority of their produce. By these exhibitions the industrious have been encouraged to still greater assiduity, and the indolent stimulated to activity and reform.

The establishment also of our local market, which we owe, Honourable Sir, to you, must be considered as an essential improvement, as well to the interests of the agriculturist, as to the community and the shipping. The steady and judicious manner in which it has been conducted, under your watchful care, has afforded a plentiful supply of fresh provisions both for shipping and island consumption, and at the same time put a considerable check to depredations and abuses, the existence of which was before but too justly to be lamented. It is indeed acknowledged on all hands, that while these measures have proved the source of great comfort and convenience to the inhabitants, the visiting stranger is also now assured of an abundance of those refreshments, which he so much needs after a long and tedious voyage.

Allow us to add, Honourable Sir, that your constant and unwearied attention to the welfare and interests of this community; your countenance of all our exhibitions by your personal attendance; the efforts you have made to promote every description of improvement, physical, moral, and intellectual; your own elaborate and instructive addresses, which will be preserved for the information and im

provement of future generations, in the sciences of agriculture and horticulture; your encouragement of liberal discussion and fair argument in all matters relating to our welfare, and the general improvement of the island, added to your own personal condescension and urbanity, have justly acquired for you the respect and veneration of this community, Although we are, therefore, but too well aware of the difficulty under which we labour, adequately to express the grateful sense of obligation which we feel, Honourable Sir, for all your kindness and attention, we venture nevertheless most respectfully to solicit your acceptance of a piece of plate, which, though trifling in value, is offered as a sincere token of our high respect and esteem.

At the same time, Honourable Sir, we beg to express our ardent wish, that you may arrive in perfect health and safety in your native land; and that with your amiable consort, whom w we shall ever remember with sincere and grateful regard, you may long enjoy a happy and honour. able retirement, in the pleasing task of forming the minds of your promising sons, to fill their future stations in life with as much honour to themselves, and as exten sive benefit to their fellow-creatures, as their worthy and respected parents. We have the honour to be, &c.

P

(Signed by forty-eight persons.) To the foregoing addresses the BrigadierGeneral returned suitable replies.

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Honourable Sir: Upon the occasion of your approaching departure from the island, permit us, the undersigned inhabitants, to express our grateful sense of your zealous and persevering solicitude to promote the welfare of our little community. Your unceasing endeavours, Sir, have not been in vain. The various public institu tions either established by yourself, or receiving an invigorating impulse under your auspices, exhibit results which leave no doubt of their efficacy and success. In proof of this, we have merely to refer to the pleasing and affecting annual exhibi tions of the state of education, particularly amongst the lower orders, the number of children put out apprentices to useful trades, the free population of colour taking an active part in rendering themselves independent of parochial relief, and assuming a new place in the community; and above all, Sir, the measures for accelerating the total extirpation of slavery. These are circumstances which alone are sufficient to indicate an advance in moral and Intellectual

intellectual character; whilst with corresponding progression the Agricultural Society, and its concomitant branches (the market and half-yearly fairs), have excited an unprecedented degree of stimulus to improve the quality and quantity of island produce, and have materially assisted to give beneficial direction to the labours of the farmer.

Such, Sir, are the happy consequences of the mild and conciliatory tone by which you have led the inhabitants to co-operate in measures founded in justice, good policy, and true philanthropy.

With ardent wishes for the health, happiness, and prosperity of yourself, and our estimable patroness Mrs. Walker, and your promising sons, we have the honour to subscribe ourselves, &c.

(Signed by 108 persons.) St. Helena, 28th Feb. 1828.

Reply. Gentlemen: I have this moment had the honour of receiving a most handsome, cordial, and affectionate address.

This testimony of the regard and esteem of such worthy and respectable men is truly gratifying to my feelings, and the more so as I know you to possess those honourable and upright principles which would not stoop to vague adulation, nor allow you to express a sentiment toward me which you did not truly and sincerely entertain.

Whatever success has attended my endeavours to promote the general improve ment and welfare of this community, I must mainly attribute to the cordial cooperation I have met with from its members.

I have always found the inhabitants of this island ready to adopt any measure which was likely to promote general improvement and the public good, and to step forward in the cause of humanity, They possess generally an unsophisticated simplicity of mind, which is ever open to improvement, and susceptible of every noble and generous sentiment.

The measures which they have voluntarily adopted for the abolition of slavery, must hold them up to the world as the friends of humanity, and as an enlightened and benevolent people.

In 1818 they set an example of disinterested philanthropy, at that time unprecedented in the world.

Actuated by the same noble and benevolent feelings, they in 1825 came forward to accelerate the extirpation of slavery, and voluntarily and cheerfully offered to make farther sacrifices of slave property to effect this humane object, which they are now carrying into effect.

The liberal subscriptions into which they have entered for the purpose of raising a fund to educate the lower orders, to apprentice them to trades, and for other

charitable purposes, are incontrovertible proofs of the liberal, humane, and benevolent disposition of the inhabitants of St. Helena.

Although slavery does exist, yet it is only the name; from the kind and humane disposition of the inhabitants, it is exhibited in its mildest form; but so averse are they, from principle, to slavery even in this mild form, that they are now exerting their united efforts, and making great pecuniary sacrifices to abolish it.

The Benevolent Society, the Apprentice Fund, the Benefit Society, and above all the measures adopted for the abolition of slavery, are acts which will ever redound to their honour.

There is not, perhaps, to be found a population of the same extent where crimes are less frequent, and where litigation so seldom occurs, nor a population in which education generally is more diffused among all classes, by their own voluntary exertion, and pecuniary contributions. The lower orders in general support themselves and their families by honest industry; they are content with little, and get it honestly.

The higher classes seem to regulate their transactions with each other upon the principle of that equitable and divinė rule, "Do unto others as you would they should do unto you.'

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In this manner they conduct their affairs without having recourse to law-suits, and it is observable that civil trials seldom occur between natives of the island; and they would be less frequent if their honest simplicity and peaceable disposition were not sometimes disturbed by a few selfish

men.

I must now return you my best thanks and acknowledgments for the honour you have conferred upon me, and for your expressions of regard and solicitude for the happiness of Mrs. Walker and my sons, in which they most sincerely join.

I shall ever feel the most lively interest in your welfare. I shall in retirement reflect with pleasure upon the happy days I have spent amongst you, and I hope to hear that you continue to unite in the same cordial manner you have hitherto done for the general welfare.

The success of the useful institutions now established must depend in a great measure upon yourselves. Continue, my friends, hand in hand to support them; dismiss from your minds every selfish feeling; act for your own and the public good; and, thus united, be assured that you will prosper.

I now bid you an affectionate farewell; and rest assured, it is my sincere desire that every blessing and happiness may ever attend you.

(Signed) A. WALKER, St. Helena, 14th April 1828.

Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

Saturday, May 24th, 1828.-The general meeting of the Society was held this day, Sir George Thomas Staunton, Bart., vice-president, in the chair. The following donations were presented:

From the Horticultural Society, Parts I. and II. of Vol. VII. of its Transactions. From Mr. C. Moreau, M.R.A.S., a Statistical Account of the Commerce of Great Britain.

Lord Ashley, Mr. D. Carruthers, Mr. Edward Maclew, and Mr. F. W. Pigou, were elected resident members of the Society; Professor Seyffarth, of Leipsig, was elected a foreign member; Baron William de Humboldt was admitted a foreign member; and J. C. Hüttner, Esq., a resident member of the Society.

The following communications were read before the Society at this meeting, viz.

A treatise from the Director upon Hindu Courts of Justice, compiled from original authorities of Hindu law relating to that point.

A summary notice of the various kinds of assemblies for the administration of justice, and of their constitution, and also of the gradations in arbitration, is first given. The administration of justice, both civil and criminal, is vested in the raja, not merely according to his will and pleasure, but in conformity with fixed laws and the established custom of the country. The paper is then divided into sections, each treating upon a separate part in the composition of the court. The sections are headed as follow: 1, the sovereign prince; 2, the chief judge; 3, the assessors; 4, the audience; 5, the domestic priest; 6, the ministers of state; 7, the officers of the court, which are stated to be five, viz. the accountant, the scribe, the keeper of claims and enforcer of judgments, the messenger, and the moderator or lecturer of the court; 8, the conduct of judges; 9, punishment of iniquitous judges; the 10th section treats upon the situation and aspect of the court-house; and the 11th and last, upon the time and mode of the court's sitting. To the paper itself is annexed a copious collection of passages relative to the points which are touched upon in it, and which fully explain the nature of the constitution of a Hindu court of justice, together with its original and appellate jurisdiction, a subject which is curious, as it is illustrative of Hindu manners, and by no means without interest in a political point of view.

Mr. Colebrooke's paper was followed by a letter from the Rev. Mr. Roberts, of Jaffna, containing the translation of part of a Hindu book of fate. Minute directions are given in this work for the performance of the necessary ceremony. A square die is made, having on one side the number 1, on another 2, on the third 10, and on the fourth 100: the die is to be thrown three times, and the three numbers which arise refer to a verse in the book having corresponding numbers, in which the solution of the question is contained; and it is stated that if a person was to throw the die for ever, he would find a corresponding number among the sixty-four verses, as each figure goes through forty-eight changes.

Thanks were returned to the Director, and to Mr. Roberts, for their respective communications.

The business of the day was concluded by the reading of part of Colonel Briggs's paper.

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May 31st.

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