MARRETT, Mrs. G. W. d. at Singapore, Feb. 20. READ, Mrs. W. H. d. at Singapore, Feb. 18.

MARRIAGES.

TRAIL, Wm. M.D. to Emma, d. of James Harvey, at Singapore, Feb. 4.

WRIGHT, Capt. Geo. Tod, to Mary Blundell, at Singapore, Feb. 4.

SHIPPING.

ARRIVALS.

FEB. 3. Lady Margaret, Mills, Tutocorin.-6. Steamer Braganza, Mundy, Hong-Kong.-9. Good Luck, Pereira. Penang.10. Fly, Tat, Penang.-13. Steamer Hooghly, Congalton, Penang. 14. Steamer, L. M. Wood, Evans, Penang.-15. John Brightman, Scott, Calcutta.-16. John Bagshaw.-19. Ayrshire, Miller, Cal. cutta.-23. Will o'the Wisp, M'Night, Calcutta.-25. Emma, Mitchell, Penang.-27. Cacique, M'Kie, Madras.. 29. Steamer, Hooghley, Congalton, Malacca.

PASSENGERS ARRIVED.

Per Velocipede.-W. Wyndham, Esq., A. Pavan, Esq.
Per Hooghly.-A. De Wind, Esq.

Per Lady Mary Wood.-Mr. and Mrs. McKean, Mr. and Mrs. Cresswell and child, Messrs. Gray, Winchester, Wheeler, and Telemas, and Sig. L. Riaza.

Per John Brightman. -Mrs. Scott and three children.

Per Nemesis.-Mr. Pinhorn.

Per John Bagshaw.-Drs. Messitt and Howe, Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Malton, Mrs. Dare and family.

DEPARTURES.

FEB. 3-Kelpie, Sime, Hong-Kong.-6. Annie, Potter, HongKong.-8. Maria, Saib, Malacca; steamer Braganza, Mundy, Point de Galle.-14. Arena, Jackson, London.-16. Kyle, Boyd, London.-21. Erin, Maine, Bombay.-27. Prince of Wales, Jones, Bombay.-28. Mischief, White, Calcutta.-MARCH 2. Ayrshire, Miller, Calcutta.

PASSENGERS DEPARTED.

J. F. McKenzie, Esq. and servant; D. Venurez, Antoni, Gonsalvez, Jose Ramirez and M. Novo, Esqrs.; A. Guthrie, Esq., J. Cramer, Esq. Miss S. C. Church, Miss B. Dyer, Miss M. Dyer, and Mrs. Robson.

CHINA.

DOMESTIC.

BIRTH.

HUMPHREYS, Mrs. A. d. at Victoria, Feb. 21.

DEATHS.

D'AGUIAR, Sir J. C. at Macao, Feb. 23.

GIBSON, Arthur H. s. of Capt. at sea, on board the ship London, Dec. 2, 1846.

GIBSON, d. of Capt. at sea, on board the ship London, Dec. 2, 1846.

SHIPPING.

ARRIVALS.

JAN. 31. Oratara, Nail, Sydney.-FEB. 2. Jane and Sarina, Danekes, Batavia; Kelpie, Sime, Calcutta.-3. Centaur, Wood, China; Lady Margaret, Mills, Tutocorin.-4. Numancia, Veida, Manila.-5. Merapi, Huys, Batavia; Eliza and Hester, Krujer, Akyab.-19. Cayuga, Starbuck, Manila.-21. Lady Leigh, Wight, Hobart Town.-26. Steamer Lady Mary Wood, Evans, Galle.

Canton still maintains its pre-eminence as the chief seat of the foreign trade with China. It has suffered nothing by the establishment of a rival port at Hong-Kong. Its commerce has received a great impulse, as far as the imperfect data in our possession enables us to form an opinion on the subject, from that more easy access to China, which has resulted from the late hostilities and pacification. It appears that the number of vessels, which arrived in the year 1845, was 302, of 136,850 tons burden; the vessels which cleared out in that period, are put down at 327, of 148,273 tons. Of the latter, the number according to their respective flags, was

The entire import trade of Canton from foreign countries amounted to 14,062,000 dollars, or 3,046,0007.; and the exports to 30,566,000 dollars, or 6,622,000. The British imports amounted to 10,392,000 dollars, and the exports to 20,734,000 dollars; the American imports to 2,478,000, and the exports to 7,979,000 dollars. The English imports therefore are equal to five-sevenths, the exports to twothirds of the whole trade of Canton. The three great articles of import into this port, raw cotton, cotton piece goods, including yarns, and woollens, and the respective share of these two nations in this trade is thus represented :—

leaving scarcely a million of dollars, for twenty or thirty other articles. Of the tea, 429,867 peculs were exported in British, and 139,202 peculs in American bottoms.

The entire import and export trade of Great Britain to China during the year under examination is thus represented in the returns before us,-exclusive of course of Hong-Kong, though if all the produce raised, manufactured, and consumed in it were brought to account, we believe the general return would be little affected.

ALL things come to an end-even the settlement of prize accounts-the course of which seems to approach the interminable as nearly as any thing to be met with in this sublunary world. The all but eternal subject of the Deccan Prize, which has for a term of years which we are afraid to

name been a standing article for the benefit of newspapers, and a standing ground for anxiety to those entitled to share in it, is likely soon to cease either to furnish paragraphs for the one class or to draw complaints from the other. A final distribution will, we understand, take place in July next.

In another column of our present publication will be found a report of the inaugural lecture of the first Professor of the Chinese Language and Literature in King's College, London. The establishment of this professorship, viewed in connection with the great change which has recently taken place in our relations with the Chinese Government and people, and the still greater changes that may be expected, is fraught with no common interest. The Chinese form a vast proportion of the entire family of the human race; yet, down to the present day, we have known scarcely any thing of them. Nearly all that we know is, that they have flat faces, dingy complexions, and long pigtails; that their women have very small feet; that they have a very good opinion of their own nation, and no great reverence for any other; that they are sharp traders; pretend to extraordinary antiquity, and are much addicted to the use of weak tea and lofty language. Yet a people whose numbers are counted by hundreds of millions; who, setting aside their absurd pretensions, may honourably lay claim to a very respectable degree of antiquity; who enjoyed some considerable degree of civilization when Europe was a vast forest, and its inhabitants painted savages; who boast of moralists and philosophers, the name of one of whom, at least, has a reputation bounded only by the limits of the civilized world-such a people, their institutions, their language, and their literature, surely deserve to be studied more assiduously and more carefully than they have hitherto been. Independently of the claims which the subject has on a rational curiosity, commercial men whose pursuits lead them to the East, may do well to reflect whether it be not worth their while to know something of a people with whom they may be called upon to hold intercourse, and of the language which is vernacular among them. A mastery of the tongue in which any transactions, political or commercial, are carried on, gives an incalculable advantage to him who possesses it. Our merchants have, perhaps, not always been fully impressed with this truth. They have been too apt to rest satisfied in the conviction that honest coin, good bills, and well-selected commodities, spoke a language understood everywhere, and they are right; but they may rely upon it that a familiarity with the language of those of whom they buy, or to whom they sell, would enable them to perform both operations much more to their own satisfaction; and not only so, but with a great increase of advantage. Whether viewed in a political, a commercial, or a literary point of view, we regard the establishment of the new Chinese professorship as a very fortunate step, and we trust that the good sense of those to whom the knowledge which it offers would be useful, will prompt them to avail themselves of the proffered assistance.

AMONG the contrivances by which the ingenuity of modern times has sought to avert or alleviate calamity, none is more important, none more deserving of public encouragement than that of insurance in its various branches. But the discoveries of high civilization are slowly natu

ralized in countries where they have been previously unknown, and it is greatly to be lamented that so valuable a system as that of the insurance of goods and buildings from fire is scarcely resorted to at all in the Eastern dominions of Great Britain, even in the great cities which are the seats of government and of commerce. An occasional fire excites alarm, and men begin to think of insuring; but the feeling which prompted the thought subsides, and the floating notion of providing against the effects of accident by fire sleeps till again roused by the occurrence of a fresh calamity. In an article which appeared not long since in the Friend of India, it was positively stated that ninetenths of the houses and offices in Calcutta are uninsured. In Great Britain the practice of insurance is discouraged by heavy taxation. Men are mulcted for their prudence, and for the sake of a paltry revenue, provision against an event which may be utterly ruinous is virtually forbidden. This is not the case in India. Men are not punished for their forethought in this respect, and the neglect is the result of a recklessness for which it is not easy satisfactorily to

account.

In the Mofussil, insurance is, as might be expected from its comparative infrequency at the Presidencies, almost unknown, and serious losses are constantly sustained by those who, in many instances, are little able to bear them. It is high time that such a state of things should be remedied, and we cannot but think the subject well worth the notice both of the press of India and of all persons there who possess influence. The number of the Friend of India to which we have already referred, contains some remarks on a project for establishing an insurance-office in the North-west Provinces, from which it would appear that those with whom the design originates have been far more anxious to secure the insurers than the insured, from loss. As with some offices here, there are so many loopholes provided for escaping the unpleasant operation of paying in case of loss, that the security of the insured cannot be rated very high. Where that which is proposed is so much wanted, it is a pity that the good which might be effected should be rendered unavailable by absurd limitations. The company seem to have fenced themselves round so carefully, that he must be a very lucky man who should succeed in fixing them with a payment, and the result must be either that no customers will be found, or that a majority of those who offer must, in the event of loss occurring, find themselves, and not the insurers, saddled with it. This state of things should not be suffered to continue, and we earnestly commend the subject to the serious consideration of our Indian readers.

THE last number of the Calcutta Review contains an interesting and able article on "Prison Discipline," which will be read with satisfaction even by those who may not agree in its conclusions. The subject of prison discipline is, however, one upon which a great mass of writing has been wasted without bringing us one jot nearer the object which it was meant to subserve than we were in the outset. We have tried all possible modes of prison discipline and want of discipline; we have simply shut up prisoners within four walls with reference to nothing but the security of their persons, and we have in succession tried every possible variety of treatment, with a view either to deter them by the influence of fear from returning, or to effect moral

improvement by the influence of higher motives-and the result is just nothing at all. We have petted convicts like spoiled children, and we have treated them like the victims of fiends, but without success in either case. The unhappy subjects of experiment have remained unreformed by kindness and undismayed by cruelty. The improvement of prison discipline is the most hopeless of all hopeless things. Prisons we must have so long as there are criminals, and we must render them as little productive of evil as possible; but the hope of making them nurseries of virtue must be abandoned, unless we would wilfully cherish a feeling which experience has demonstrated to be a delusion.

There is one thing, however, which we may do, and ought to do. We cannot make prisons temples of peace, purity, and moral excellence, but we may prevent them from being laboratories for evolving moral and mental ruin. There is no subject which more strikingly than prison discipline illustrates the tendency of mankind to rush from one extreme to another. The corrupting influences of such society as is likely to exist within a prison have been too obvious; indeed it scarcely required experimental information to prove what they are and must be. Men calling themselves philanthropists, have thereupon devised schemes of shutting up a human being apart from all others, and forcing him to linger out the months and years which he is destined to pass in a gaol, with no society but his own. On the supposed reformatory effects of this system the Calcutta reviewer makes some very sensible remarks. He does not deny the outward change, but he is sceptical, and reasonably so, as to the motive which has produced it. He does not, however, employ his pen as we could have wished, in denouncing such a mode of punishment altogether. Proofs have been adduced, till further proof is needless, of the fearful effects of this punishment upon the frail fabric of the human intellect. It has been proved that, in many cases, the punishment has produced madness, and in many more, hopeless imbecility. And is this a punishment to be resorted to by a Christian Government? We answer, emphatically, no! If cruelty must in some shape be tolerated in our prisons, let it be the old description of torture, whose end was bodily suffering, rather than the modern refinement of cruelty which, under the guise of reforming mercy, breaks up the reason and destroys the moral frame. Men may advance to such a point of wickedness as to take pleasure in the infliction of bodily pain; but what is their guilt compared with the guilt of those who deliberately assail the mind? The destruction of the understanding is a task not for men, however far gone in depravity. It is a work for demons, and for demons only.

SINCE we last adverted to the eternal subject of Post Office abuses, some discussion has taken place in the House of Commons in regard to Mr. ROWLAND HILL, his duties, and his salary. The latter, it appears, is 1,2001. per annum,-a sum which we dare say Mr. HILL might honestly earn, if he would or could set about the task; but what he is doing, in what manner he passes his time, how he amuses the hours devoted to St. Martin's le Grand (if any be so devoted), we are not informed. To assist Mr. HILL in doing nothing-for such, as the public are at present advised, seems to be the sum of his duties, he has the aid of several clerks. Some curiosity was manifested as to their salaries, but no information could be gleaned relating

thereto. Perhaps their emoluments stand in strong contrast to the remuneration of their chief-that while his is abundantly liberal (considering that he has nothing to do, and has not even a definite position in the Post Office), theirs are too pitiful to be mentioned. There is a rumour-we refer to it as nothing more--that Mr. HILL'S duties are restricted to the task of cutting down the emoluments of the inferior servants of the establishment: we have not heard that he has made or meditated any attack on those of Colonel MABERLY. If the report be correct, we cannot but consider the twelve hundred pounds a year paid to Mr. HILL as worse than thrown away. It would be better to pay it him for riding up and down the Brighton Railway all day long. The curse of the Post Office, or rather of the public who are so deeply interested in the Post Office, lies in the miserable salaries given to the underlings of the establishment-men who must unavoidably be constantly trusted with considerable property, but from whom one of the most ordinary and influential motives to an honest course is withheld. Mr. HILL may cut down these miserable pittances, and persuade himself (possibly others too) that he is doing service to the state by providing the means of putting 1,200l. per annum into his own pocket without any increase of the public charges; but those who suffer from Post Office dishonesty, and who know the source from whence the evil springs, will give him small thanks. In the mean time, while these pedling savings are occupying all the time and attention which Mr. HILL chooses to spare from other avocations (for if we mistake not he has other avocations making some small demands upon him), all real improvement is at a stand. All the old Post Office vices continue to flourish. The old doctrine, that the establishment is maintained for any purpose rather than for the accommodation of the public, is tacitly adhered to. Men drop their letters into the post boxes, and they are forwarded somewhere, some time or other, just as it suits those who have them in charge, if it be not more convenient to let them sleep altogether at the point whence their journey should have commenced. If any letters contain valuable property, they are doomed- -so says Colonel MABERLY, formerly sole secretary to the Post Office, now one of the secretaries of that singular establishment, and we should be sorry to contradict him on a point upon which he must be so much better informed than we can pretend to be. Bags of letters arrive in St. Martin's le Grand, and are distributed as it pleases the officials there; as for the interests or convenience of the mercantile world, Post Office attachés are not sunk so low as to bestow the slightest thought upon them. Sometimes part of a mail is delivered, and the rest kept back till another day-this gives an advantage to the merchants fortunate enough to participate in the earlier delivery, an advantage for which they may be indebted to favour or to chance, we presume not to decide which-but who shall dare complain? Mr. HILL draws 1,2001. a year for setting the Post Office to rights, and it would be shocking presumption to suppose that any thing now is wrong. Some few years ago, the stream of improvement (it had not flowed very far) was suddenly stopped in its course, and we were informed that this "untoward event" arose from Mr. HILL being put out of commission. Now he is come back; but if the newspapers had not assured us of the fact, we should be quite unconscious of it. We are very glad to hear that he has got 1,2001. per annum; we

know several worthy, honest men, to whom a similar piece of good fortune would be very acceptable, and they would be willing to work for it. Does Mr. HILL work, or is his salary regarded as a pension for past services? If the latter be the case, let it be said so, and we shall know at once that we have nothing to expect; but if the allowance be actually what it professes to be, salary, and not pension, we should be very thankful for some evidence that it is well bestowed.

"I have waited a long while for the settlement of this small account," said a tradesman to a living member of the peerage, distinguished not more by the extent of his debts than by the imperturbable good humour with which he submits to the operation of dunning. "You have, Mr. Staytape," said the courteous and candid nobleman, "you have waited a long while, and I regret much to be obliged to assure you that you are likely to wait much longer." Such is our position, such our prospects, in regard to the Post Office: we have waited long for improvement-barring an occasional growl which could not be suppressed, we have waited patiently, but we have waited in vain; we waited for Mr. HILL, and at last he came, but he might as well have staid away, for still we wait and are likely to wait. It might be some consolation to be assured from authority that we have no hope, but even this miserable satisfaction is denied to us. There is Mr. HILL-Somewhere, we mean in the purlieus of the Post Office, we do not pretend to define the exact locality; but his name stands in the official list, and we dare say it is not allowed to be overlooked on the occurrence of quarter-day. There, then, is Mr. HILL himself, the very embodied essence of reform. But what of that? If all his energy is to be directed to the multiplication of thieves and the stimulation of unlawful desire for gain, by cutting down eighteen shillings a week to seventeen and sixpence, alas! for the cause of Post Office improvement.

THE CHINESE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.

Mr. SAMUEL TURNER FEARON, the newly appointed Professor of the Chinese language and literature at King's College, London, delivered his inaugural lecture on the 20th inst., before the Reverend the Principal and a numerous audience, including several of the most distinguished members of the Council, among whom we noticed Sir George Staunton. The Professor in his opening remarks stated, that the character of the Chinese had always seemed to him a complete paradox; they were learned without knowledge, poets without imagination, and moralists without religion. After twelve years' residence in China, he confessed he was unable to fathom the disposition of the natives. In regard to religion, very little was known, even by the Chinese themselves, many of whom, though ranking among the better educated, were unable to tell him the primary tenets of their faith. Some believed in a future state, but many held, that there was nothing beyond the grave. Metempsychosis was very generally believed, and polytheism almost universal, it being a chief part of the Chinese religious duty to propitiate the inferior deities. The natives had no idea of a first cause, but attributed all to chance. Spells and charms were much resorted to, especially in the case of illness. Mr. Fearon showed a printed Chinese paper, a similar one to which a native servant, who accompanied the Professor to this country, being lately indisposed, burnt, and swallowed the ashes. Mr. Fearon characterized the Chinese as being clever, but only imitatively so; extremely apathetic, grave, and saturnine. They were very sensual, and much given to the delights of the table. Opium was the favourite source of intoxication with them, as the dreamy state produced by that flower was more in accordance with their general dignified character, than the wild excitation produced by other means of inebriation. The Chinaman never troubled himself to understand that which was not at first sight clear, and such things as the steam-engine and the lucifer match were considered by him as undoubted

-

productions of a diabolical agent. Wealth, Mr. Fearon stated, was more generally distributed in China than in most other countries, and if there were few who made large fortunes, there were very few in such a state of abject poverty as is sometimes seen in European states. Education, too, such as it was, was more universally diffused than elsewhere, almost every one being able to read and write; but beyond this their acquirements seldom extended. The government was purely despotic, which accorded best with the listless character of the inhabitants. The king was supposed to be selected by Heaven, and to him implicit obedience was yielded. Filial piety and reverence for age were prominent features in the Chinese character, and the slightest wish of a parent was unhesitatingly obeyed. The people were divided into three classes; the government employés, who constituted the only aristocracy of the land; the tradesmen; and the egg-class, which last class lived entirely on the water, and were so named from the oval shape of their boats they were regarded by the other classes as outcastes. The Chi nese were stated to be exceedingly uncleanly in their dwellings and persons, and inveterate liars whenever self-interest did not dictate a more honourable course. They were very exact in keeping accounts, and even the Chosen of Heaven, Brother of the Sun, &c., did not disdain to audit in propriâ persona the accounts of the Celestial kitchen. Of the language, Mr. Fearon stated various opinions had been held; some asserting that the difficulties opposed to a mastery of it were insurmountable, while others held that it was easy to be acquired. His own opinion lay between these two extremes, and he did not esteem it a more difficult language than the Greek or Latin. The language was wholly indeclinable, and consisted of primitives or radicals and compounds. Of the former there were about four hundred, which number by various modulations of the voice was increased to sixteen hundred. With these were compounded the

66

ampullas et sesquipedalia verba," which had been variously estimated at numbers varying from 10,000 to 20,000, Mr. Fearon inclining more to the former than to the latter. The dialects were peculiar to each province, and their variations were not so numerous as might have been expected from the great extent of the country. This might be partially accounted for by the great employment of printing, by which means the unity of the language was preserved in considerable purity. In conclusion, the Professor urged the great utility of the language from our position in the East, and our increasing intercourse with China. Mr. Fearon, who was received with great attention and frequent applause throughout the course of the lecture, was greeted with continued plaudits at its conclusion, and was personally congratulated by the Principal and several of the gentlemen present. To assist him in his demonstration of the language, the Professor had arranged lists of Ideographs and Phonetics, which, with his able vivá voce explanation, rendered that part of the lecture perfectly lucid and intelligible. Mr. Fearon possesses, in addition to a perfect mastery of his subject, one great essential of a popular lecturer, an agreeable manner of arranging his matter, the whole being replete with interest and expressed in clear and elegant language. It has seldom fallen to our lot, to hear a lecture so well re. ceived, and the attention and applause bestowed on it, though great, were by no means more than it deserved. We only regretted that it was not longer, and this feeling was evidently shared by all present.

DINNER TO THE NEW GOVERNOR OF CEYLON.

On the 12th instant, a splendid entertainment was given by the chairmen and directors of the South-Eastern Railway Company, at the Albion Tavern, Aldersgate-street, to the Right Hon. Viscount Torrington (late deputy chairman of the company), on his departure to assume the government of Ceylon. J. M. M'Gregor, Esq., chairman of the company, having Lord Torrington on his right, presided; and among the guests were Sir G. Larpent, Bart.; Sir J. Jervis, M.P. (Attorney-General); R. D. Mangles, Esq., M. P.; Hon. J. T. L. Melville; J. Walter, Esq., jun.; R. Stephenson, Esq, &c.

After the usual toasts, the CHAIRMAN proposed the health of Lord Torrington. He had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the noble lord who was to-night their guest in connection with an undertaking of mercantile enterprise, in which he (the Chairman) was delighted to find engaged a man of ardent temperament, of undoubted talent, of great perseverance, and possessing a degree of energy which he had never seen excelled. (Hear.) The noble lord had not acquired his habits of business from his connection with the South-Eastern Railway, but had previously been distinguished in the county of Kent for his talent and management in the direction of agricultural pursuits;

and he had received from the inhabitants of that county a testimonial not unworthy of his exertions. The winning urbanity of the noble lord's manner, and his engaging qualities in social life, had endeared him to all who had been associated with him. He looked forward to the time when the noble lord's name would be recorded in the annals of history with as much honour as the names of those of his family who had bled and died in defence of their country. (Cheers.)

Lord TORRINGTON, in returning thanks, said, he could assure them that the compliment they had paid him to-night would be for ever engraven upon his memory. He reverted with great satisfaction to his connection with the South-Eastern Railway Company; for in many a difficulty connected with their struggles in the county of Kent, as well as in the House of Commons, he had experienced the utmost kindness from the gentlemen who formed that company. He could assure them, that during the period of his connection with the South-Eastern Railway, he had been enabled to acquire that knowledge of business which he hoped would be of much service to him in his future career. (Cheers.) He might be allowed to say, that he had not joined the South-Eastern Company with any views of speculation or of personal advantage, but with the sole desire of promoting a scheme which he believed would tend to advance the general prosperity of the country, and the welfare of the county of Kent. (Hear, hear.) He was convinced that the extension of railway communication would be most beneficial to that county; that it would increase the value of land, and would afford the farmers cheap and regular carriage for their produce. He was now about to proceed to the island of Ceylon, with the most anxious and earnest desire to discharge the important duties entrusted to him to the best of his power. (Cheers.) If he could not emulate the abilities of his predecessors, he had at least the satisfaction of knowing that he went out under the banner of the noble Earl now at the head of the Colonial-office, whose talents and capabilities for his high position were undeniable, and under whose instruction he hoped to be enabled to pursue such a course as might tend to the advantage of the colony committed to his government. (Cheers.)

The Chairman, accompanied by Lord Torrington and the greater portion of the guests, then retired.

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

APRIL 13.-BENGAL CUSTOMS RETURNS.-Mr. HUME moved for several returns connected with the subject for last year.Agreed to.

APRIL 19.-Mr. HUME gave notice that he should, on a future day, submit a motion to the House respecting the interference of the Board of Control in the government of India. As the government of India had been vested by law in the Directors of the East-India Company, he conceived that the Board of Control, in taking upon itself functions that properly belonged to the Court of Directors, assumed to deal with matters of which they were not legally cognizant, and he should certainly feel it his duty to direct the attention of Parliament to the subject.

APRIL 22.-SECRET PAPERS.-Mr. HUME moved for "a List of secret papers laid before the Court of Directors of the EastIndia Company by the Board of Control since January, 1840, distinguishing those papers that were kept in the Secret Court of Directors."

Sir J. HOBHOUSE said, that if these returns continued to be moved for there must be some additional clerks employed, and he should therefore object to the motion.

Mr. Huиe then consented to postpone his motion.

MISCELLANEOUS.

ELECTION OF DIRECTORS OF THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY.-On Wednesday, the 14th inst., a General Court of Proprietors was held at the East India House, for the election of six Directors, in the room of H. Alexander, Esq.; Hon. W. L. Melville; Major J. Oliphant; J. Shepherd, Esq.; F. Warden, Esq.; and Sir W. Young, Bart., who went out by rotation. At six o'clock the ballot glasses were closed, and delivered to the scrutineers, who declared to election to have fallen on W. B. Bayley, Esq.; R. Ellice, Esq.; Major-gen. A. Galloway, c. B.; Sir R. Jenkins, G.c. B.; R. D. Mangles, Esq., M. P.; and J. Masterman, Esq., M.P. On the same day, a Court of Directors was held, when the thanks of the Court were unanimously voted to Sir J. W. Hogg, Bart., M. P., Chairman, and Henry St. George Tucker, Esq., Deputy-Chairman, for their great application and attention to the affairs of the East-India Company during the past year. On the following day, at a Court of Di

rectors, Henry St. George Tucker, Esq., was chosen Chairman, and Lieut. gen. Sir James Law Lushington, G.C.B., DeputyChairman for the year ensuing.

PRESENTATION OF PLATE TO VISCOUNT TORRINGTON.-A service of plate has just been presented to Lord Torrington by the proprietors of the South-Eastern Railway. It consists of a candelabra and costly decoration, besides the usual dinner-service, and is valued at £3,000. It is from the design of Mr. Brown, and was manufactured by Messrs. Hunt and Raskill. LORD TORRINGTON left Southampton for Ceylon on the 20th instant.

COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH CHINA.-A select committee of the House of Commons is now sitting on this subject, but at present nothing of the slightest interest has been adduced in the way of evidence.

MAJOR-GENERAL W. SMELT, C. B., has, we hear, been appointed to command the forces in Ceylon.

MISSION TO BORNEO.-A plan has been put into circulation for the establishment of a Church, a Mission House, and a School at Sarawak, in Borneo, where our countryman, Mr. Brook, has so romantically attained the power and influence of a Sovereign Prince. That gentleman, deeply impressed with the importance of spreading the knowledge of the gospel in the country so wonderfully placed under his rule, made application for assistance to the Established Missionary Societies; but their attention and funds were too fully occupied elsewhere to admit of their responding to the call. A committee has consequently been formed for the express object, and the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury and of several other prelates, has been bestowed on the plan. Subscriptions are received by several bankers, and it is gratifying to observe that the list of subscribers already announced contains the names of many highly influential persons. At its head stands her majesty the Queen Dowager, as a donor of 100l., in accordance with the usual liberality of that royal lady, ever foremost in every good work. is earnestly to be hoped that this example may meet many followers, and that Sarawak may, through their aid, become a central station, whence the light of the gospel may be diffused throughout the Indian archipelago.

It

TROOP FROM INDIA.-A detachment of the 9th Foot has arrived in England from Calcutta, under the command of Captain D. M. Bethune.

DEATH OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.-It is our painful duty to announce the decease of this respected officer, which event took place at the Cape of Good Hope. Sir Walter was on his way from Madras, to seek in England that recovery of health which he so much needed. The deceased was the only son of the first baronet-the immortal author of Waverley-and was a lieut. col. in the 15th Hussars. The baronetcy is now extinct, and the property passes to Walter Scott Lockhart, the eldest son of the editor of the Quarterly, and only grandson of the first baronet. Sir Walter was born in 1801, and married, in 1825, Miss Jobson of Lockore, Fife, who survives him.

TESTIMONIAL TO LIEUTENANT Hewett, of tHE INDIAN NAVY. -The Court of Directors of the East-India Company, in acknowledgment of the great services rendered by Lieut. Hewett, while employed in China in command of the Company's stean vessel Medusa, and of the ability and zeal uniformly displayed by that officer in the performance of his duties, have resolved to present him with a sword of the value of one hundred guineas, bearing the following inscription:

THE COLONIAL BISHOPRICS.-It has been definitively settled by the Committee for the Management of the Colonial Bishoprics Fund, that the present diocese of Australia shall be divided into three separate sees; the central portion being superintended by the Right Rev. Dr. Broughton, now Bishop of Australia, but whose title will henceforth be Bishop of Sydney. The district of Port Philip it is intended shall also form a separate see, under the name of the Bishopric of Melbourne. To this diocese the Rev. Charles Perry, of Trinity College, has been appointed. Out of the northern coast of New South Wales, another diocese, with a name to be derived from one of the principal settlements.