118

EE —— en i me NEWS BY THE LAST ENGLISH MARL.

WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND GHINA.

A serious collision has taken place at Canton between the British authorities and Yeh, the Chinese Governor-General. A lerehba under the British flag at anvhor off Canton was boarded on the Sth Oct. by a Chinese force, and 12 of the crew seized. Consul Parkes proceeded on board, and was insulted and threatcned with violenee. The remonestrances made to Yeh were treated with contempt. On the 21st of October the matter was placed in the hands of Adwiral Hostile measures commenced on the 24th of “he forts of Canton were taken, and several of

Seymour. Octoh r. them dk stroyed,

Yoh persisted in rejecting Admiral Seymour's demands for tion, or even an interview. On the 27th Oct. fire was opened on the city walls and on the Governors palaee. ‘The city walls were breached and stormed on the 22nd Oct, The troops penetrated to the Palace, but were withdrawn io the evening. The loss was 3 killed and 12 wounded,

Attoupts at negotiation coutinued fruitless, and on the 31 aud 4th ef November the old city was bombarded, On the Gth of November 23 war junks were attacked by the Barraecouta, and all destroyed. Time was again granted to the Chinese, bat no signs were given of submission,

According to the last accounts the Bogue forts had been ‘The factories had been almost totally vacated by

Vroperty to a large amount had Commerce was at a standstill.

gatisfin

exptured. the foreign community. been d sstioyed by five.

FURTHER PARTICULARS.

The intereourse between the British authorities and the Governor of Conton has for some time been embarrassed with growing difficulties, the result of the unredressed grievances

’ Britis . 8 tober the Chinese ‘ of Britioh ree ae Mer _—< bea ang ed i. 3 : . : 16,123,800 suthorites consummated thetr carect ary 0 v Foo-chow-Foo - Z is ‘ 19,512,800 seizing a loreha under British colours, and making prisoners | hale? S : 50,872,400 of the crew. It is stated on good authority that they cut off! 5 ar

hee eacte r “ro r a (* se arkes 3 | a the heads of four of the crew. The Counsel, Mr, Parkes, the Total « : i 86,509,000

British agent on the spot, proceeded first on board the lorcha, wend afterwards endeavoured to obtain an interview with the inundarians. On board the lorcha he was menaced, and the mandarians refused to give any kind of explanation of the pro- ceoeding. The river in front of Canton is rather broader than the Thames at London-bridge, but the depth of water does not exceed two fathoms, while the narrow passages by which necess is gained to it on the eastern side of the island of Whampoa have a depth not exceeding a fathom and a half. The city is externally guarded by five forts, of which two are on the land side and two on Pearl river. These were attacked and taken by our countrymen on the 24th of Oct. An at- tempt was then made by Admiral Seymour to terminate the difficulty without further hostilities, but the Chinese Gover-

THE EX

a poriod of four “days was allowed to elapse, in hope: doubt, that the chastisenenut already inflicted and the misery hi must have caused would bend the stubborn will of the Chinese authorities, especially as. the attack was direeted nweindl that very-quarter, of the town, the southern district, ‘in which Yeh himself’ resided. Negotiations again failing, ‘the old city was bombarded on the 3d and 4th of Novem- ber. In a town so thickly inhabited, containing more ithan a millon and a half of inhabitants, the effect of a ‘bombardment must have been dreadful, and the loss of life ‘enormous. We hear only, however, of the loss of property by fire, “Again a pause of one day seems to have occurred, and then 23 war-junks were attacked, and all sunk, As the | fleet cannot approach nearer to Canton than 15 mile

| :

‘operations must have been performed by small craft and |

land forees, and the only assistance that the fleet was able to ‘vender seems to have been the destruction of the forts at the |mouth of the river, which have been so often destroyed or ‘captured by British fleets. The operations seem to have been performed with vigour and promptitude, and te have ‘compreheaded in a few days almost as much fighting and ‘destroying as took place in the course of the whole last | Chinese war. Assuming the collision to be inevitable, the stoppage of commerce at this moment is peculiarly unfortu- nate. The failure of silk in Southern Europe rendered the ‘Chinese export especially valuable, and anything which tends }to raise the price of tea is a matter of importance to every family in this country, At the same time, it must not be supposed that Canten is, as it once was, the principal tea- ‘warket in China. The following figures show that in the jyear 1855 Canton was the third, and in 1856 the second, /entrepot for the exportation of tea :— For vue Yxrar enpinc 301m or Jun, 1855, Tea, Ibs.

For tur Year expina 30rn or Junu, 1856. Tea, lbs.

Canton - - - ° . 30,404,400 l’oo-chow-Foo - - - - 26,764,700 Shanghai - - . - 34,762,700

Total - - « . 91,931,800

We sincerely wish it were in our power to devise any means to prevent the occurrence of these periodical colli- sions, the effects of which, while caused by the folly or in- solence of the Government, fall with such deplorable severity on the wretched people, who have no share in promoting them. Canton, in the neighbourhood of which we have

nor would neither give satisfaction nor grant an interview to

the British Commander. Admiral Seymour then determined | to attack the city itself. A wall, composed partly of sand. |

stone and partly of -brick, surrounds Csnton ; it is about 30 feet high and 25 feet thick, and is mounted with cannon. Against this wall a fire was opened on the 27th of October, and by the 2%h a practicable breach had been opened |

through which the troops entered. The Imperialist garrison |

of Canton was if™ very weakened’state. The governor had raised the pay of common soldiers from six to eight dollars a |

- “+ » . . iit . ' month. Kaweilin-foo, the capital of the adjoining province | of Kwangsi, was closely invested by the insurgents, who, it |

was thought, would probably attack the Mantchou governor |

us soon as his new embarrassments became known. rind

fleet of war ships in the Chinese Seas is at this particalar time large, as will be scen by the following list :—

Ar Hoxe Koyo —H.M.S. Calcutta, 84, Capt. Hall i Winchester, 50, Capt. Wilson ; Coromandel, 3, Lieut. Nares ; | Hercules and Minden, Hospital ships.

Sampson, 6, Capt. Hand; Comus, 14, Capt. Jenkins. Ar Cayron.—H.M.S. Barraeouta, 6, Capt. Fortescue. Ax Woosuna.—H.M.S. Pique, 36, Capt. Sir F. W. Nicol- | son; Hornet. 17, Capt. Forsyth.

° . | 1 a . . e ss .- i The sloop Comus has lost cight of her guns, which Iter | the act was suicidal, under the impulse of insanity. The

commander was compelled to throw overboard in a tempest in the Formosa Chanel. Admiral Seymour only arrived at

Hong-Kong from his northern cruise ten days before the | sity of the disease :—

commission of the outrage which he is engaged in avenging.

The man who “drew Priam’s curtains at the dead of night, and told him half his Troy was burnt,” was doubtless an abrupt and ill-bred person, little versed in the language of Courts, and extremely distasteful to the awakened Royalty of Lilium. He did not break the news, but blurted it out all at once, and no doubt gave his listener a shock which he had not quite recovered from when the lance of Pyrrhus put au end to his existence. Such an abrupt and usmannerly messenger is in modern times-the electric telegraph, which without caring whose feelings it may shock, whose sympa- thies it may wound, or whose nerves it may sbake, blurts out its message with blunt, unmannerly brevity, leaving us to swallow it as well we may. On Sunday night every citi- zen in this metropolis went to bed in the profound convic- tion that, though things might look squally in Switzerland and warlike in Persia, we were enjoying with the Celestial Empire, at any rate, the most profound and unbroken peace. On Monday we awoke to the sudden conviction that we had taken and destroyed the forts, breached and, stormed the wails, and bombarded the city of Canton, and were probably preparing something more in the way of bringing our dis- pute with the Chinese authorities to a point. The . first feeling that every one must experience on reading the accouat so bluntly and abruptly conveyed to us of all this slaughter and desolation must be one of regret that anything should have occurred to render so strenuous an appeal to armed force necessary ; and, secondly,.a hope that enough has been doue to render anything more. of the same kind superflucus, There is no appearance of haste in these transactions ; and the British Admiral appears to. have acted with ai] proper for, bearance. It was on the 8th of October that the Chinese authorities, on what pretence we are not apprised, boarded a vessel bearing the British flag anchored off Canton, took away twelve of her crew, and insulted and even threatened with violence the [British Consul, who went on board the ship to remonstrate against their conduct. It appears ihat remonstrance was then made to Yeh, the Governor- General of Canton, and treated with the utmost contempt.¢ Negotiations seem to have continued uotil the 21st—that is, | for a period of 13 days, before the matter was handed over to |

the Admiral ; nor does the Admiral appear to have acted pre- | cipitately, for it was ouly ou the 24th that hostile measures | were commenced, on which day we are informed that the |

forts of Canton were taken, and several of them destroyed. | respectfully intimate to him, that’ (pursuant to bis request) he has | ss 394; been elected an honorary member of this Institute: of banditti. Yet, so intent on storming the public offices are

‘Soun J. McDonaup, President; Tuomas Kirway, Vice President; ‘the old Ascendancy Party of this Island, that they will not

‘Time was again given to Governor-General Yeh to reconsider his position, but be seems to have been more coutemptuous | than ever, for not ouly did he reject Admiral Seymeur’s pro- position, but eveu refused to grant him an interview, A ter

| | !

| has been made at his house in Portebello, by professor Miller, Ar Wuampoa.—H.M.S. Sybille, 40, Commodore Elliot ;| and other medical gentlemen, Tae following is the conela- Exucounter, 14, Capt. O'Callaghan ; Bittern, 12, Capt. Bate ; | sion to which they have come:—“ The cause of death >

| and this we are satisfied was inflicted by hisown hand, From

and elicited its grateful praise and thanks.

placed our military and naval depot, seems to beythe place least adapted for a point of contact between European and Chénese civilization of any portion of the empire. The cli- mate is tropical and unhealthy, the people turbulent and cruel, the city inaccessible to ships, and situated quite at the south of the empire. It is evident that our relations with China require an entire and thorough readjustment. and it is well worth considering whether some step could not be taken to remove our settlement to a spot nearer the dis- tricts where the main staples of the country are produced, | where the climate is comparatively temperate, and our posi-! tion would command the mouth of the great river. It has always been considered a lameutable oversight that we gave up Chusan for Hong Kong; as the Chinese force upon us a reeousideration of the subjects, it way not possibly be too late to amend the error.

-_——-—_-+-— ——- ¢ mem 2 ——

THE DEATH OF HUGH MILLER. A post-mortem examination of the body of Hagh Miller

found to be a pistol shot through the left side of the chest,

the diseased appearances found in the brain, taken in con- nexion with the history of the case, we bave no doubt that

following few lines to bis wife, found written on a folio sheet lying on the table, g° es painful evidence of the awful inten-

Dearest Lydia,—My brain burns, _ I must have walked ; anda fearful dream arises upon me. I cannot bear the hor- rible thought. God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me. Dearest Lydia, dear children, fare- well. My brain burns as the recollection grows. My dear, dear wife, farewell. * Hoaw Mruier.”

_— re

Correspondence.

[POR THE EXAMINER. ]

CATHOLIC YOUNG MEN’S LITERARY INSTITUTE.

Mr. Eprror:—An anonymous letter appeared in your paper some few weeks since, signed “Omega,” avowing the existence of a Society, entitled the “Catholic Young Men’s Literary Institate,” under the patronage of Rev. Thomas Phelan, P.P. This communication excited considerable attention in our city. The Hon. Charles Young, LL.D., a gentleman ever forward in promoting the cause of literature and the fine arts, wrote to Rev. Mr. Phelan, wishing to know if such was the fact, and, if so, desired to see a copy of the rules and regulations. The Rev. gentleman promptly responded, and forwarded to him a éopy of the Constitution and By-Laws of the institution. Mr. Young, in return, expressed himseif “very much pleased with the rules, &e.,” addding, “As [ see nothing to prevent me from becoming an honorary member, may I ask the favor of your proposing it to the Institute,” “and upon receiving notice thereof, I will be happy not only to send you three pounds [the prescribed fee constituting an honorary member], but also make a do- nation of books towards the Library.” This generous offer being communicated to the Institute, a vote of thanks was given; Mr. Young was unanimously elected an honorary member, and a committee appointed to wait upon him with an Address, informing bim of the facts. The Committee accordingly waited upoa the Hon. gentleman; were kindly received, and presented him with the following Address; —

“CHARLOTTETOWN, Jan. 27, 1857.

‘themselves to the cultivation of forest. lands, have, with few

AMINER.

—

—e- et ie eal - - ee = eee ==

renee anneal eR

mf “i We ae at present in our Library a cSMection of come of the composed, would naturally expect. They are the men of Ax

best standard authors, embracing History, Philosophy, Poetry cendaney, and ascendancy can only be re-established by mis-

and translations ftom the Ciassies, and nothing gives us greater

| pleasure than adding to its quantity and quality.

aceomplished Jady, we have the honor to subseribe oureslyces

repectiully, ‘Your obedient servants,

: ‘‘Joun J. McDonaxp, Tuomas Kirwan,

‘‘Hon. Charles Young, LU.D., t Ronatp WaLKER.”’

&e., &e:, &.’’ When the following reply was received:— “Cyartorrerown, Jan, 27, 1857.

Institute,’ electing me an honory member of their society.

Scientific knowledge ameng all classes of the community : and T have always manifested a disposition to co-operate with those who had this useful object in view.

‘So soon as I ascertained that your Institute was in being ;

entirely free from sectarian prejudice in its organization, |

three pounds, and books of a corresponding value.

“J trast that the young men, who have so creditably banded

themselves together for mutual improvement, wil! see their

Institute flourish, far beyond their most sanguine expectations ;

and that on every succeeding year, it will abound more and more in usefulness and prosperity

‘‘l am, gentlemen, “Your obedient servant,

‘Cuartes Youne.”’

‘Messrs. John J. McDonald, Thomas Kirwan, and Ronald

Walker.”

The Institute cannot but feel grateful to Hon. Mr, Young,

who has thus liberally come forward in its support; nor can

the first to apply for an honorary membership, has also come forward handsomely to give it his support. : But I must not omit mentioning how much the Institute

its Patron, the Rev. Mr. Phelan, who was the first to nourish its existence, and to whom it is indebted for the room in which its meetings are held, besides many other good offices.

The Institute numbers at present well on to thirty mem- bers; has a Library of one hundred and fifty volumes, of choice standard works, and needs nothing but the hearty support and co-operation of all good Catholics,—who would wish to see their children and young friends do welil,—to make it rival the best institutions of the kind in this Colony On behalf of the Institute,

R. B. REID, Secretary.

antiner.

Jan. 31, 1857.

a

Che Ex

CHARLOTTETOWN, PLE.L, FEBRUARY 2, I857-

EDUCATION IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND.

We make the following extract from the report of a lecture on ** The Emigration Fields of Great Britain,’’ recently de- livered by P. L. Simmends, Esq., of London, before the Cheltenham Athtneum, of which Dr. Humphreys, formerly Head Master of our Centra] Academy, is the President. ‘The report appears in the Cheltenham free Press of the 20th December :— .

New Brunswick and Canada are the North American Colpnies to which emigrants have hitherto proceeded in the largest member: bat he could not pass over Prince Edward Island, which had been greatly overlooked. Of this island their excellent President could tell them much more than he could do, as Dr. Humphreys’s name had stood high in colonial estimation there, and been familiar to him from its frequent honorable mention in various ways, long before he had made his personal acquaintance. In that island the soil is uniform- ly good: all the crops that grow in England yield plentiful returns, and ripen in great perfection. In British America, all who have with persevering industry and frugality applied

exceptions, succeeded in acquirmg the means of comfortable independence, and all that is requisite to render rural life happy. ws

Ona motion being made to give the lecturer a yote of thanks, the President, Dr. Humphreys, is reported to have spoken as follows :— \

The President, in putting the motion, observed that as the lecturer had so unexpectedly alluded to that colony with which he himself (the President) had been connected, he felt botnd to make one or two observations, and, firstly, he would express his belief, that for a certain class of emigrants, which he would afterwards define, no colony connected with the British Empire offered equal advantages. The class he referred to consisted of those who derived a small but certain income from the mother country, for the rate of exchange would double their ancomes, while all the necessaries of life were very.cheap, and the climate was exceedingly healthful—so | much so that the inhabitants were noted for longevity of life. Nor must he omit to add that education received a more than ordinary attention in this little colony, as a proof of which he might mention that while the entire revenue last year was only about £50,000, the legislature had appropriated no less

“GuntLemen:—I feel highly gratified at the very handsome ) + ws manner in which you have conveyed to me the resolution, Yes, the very employees of Government. To such a length 8, these | Unanimously adopted by the ‘Catholie Young Men’s Leterary | did they proceed, that a paper belonging to their Department

‘Ever since my arrival in this, my adopted land, L have | bas felt a lively interest in the dissemination of Literary and | meetings!

and so soon as I learned from its Constitution that it was so

then felt a desire to render it such aid as was in my power ; and I now have the pleasure of handing to you the sum of

is indebted to the noble and prompt activity and goodness of

representation and injustice. But we confess there is one

“With the best wishes tor your health, and that of your phase of the present excitement which has taken us completely > by surprise, and which we think will excite the surprise and

‘indignation of our readers also. It is this. Some of the offi- cers who had been entrusted by the Government with the administration of the educational department have been fore- most in fanning the flame, at first in private; but, emboldened

_by impunity, afterwards took thelead at Indignation Meetings !

| had been copied, circulated and read by themselves at publie We shall not stop to characterise sueh condact. They must haye reckoned largely on the forbearance — or weakness of the present Goyernment. Beyond a certain point ‘forbearance manifests either weakness or culpable neglect ; ‘and after the fullest consideration of this matter, we think this point has already been reached. Such being our opinion, our duty as a public journalist requires that we thus candidly state it. Indeed,a member of the Board of Education who can | characterise so large and peaceable a portion of our peop'e ‘as the Roman Catholics are, as ‘ the Common Enemy,’’ ia better fitted for office under the Palmer Administration than under the present.

THE SERMON,

On last Thursday evening the Rey. D. Fitzgerald preached Charity Sermon in the Temperance Hall. Fears were begin- ning to be entertained that this amiable cletgyman’s zeal wae

the fact be omitted that Hon. 1. Whelan, who was one of cooling down. It was observed with regret that even the last

Fifth of November had failed to enkindle his enthusiasm. Ilis sermon on this occasion must have dissipated all doubts. He took his text from the thirteenth chapter of John, 34th and doth verses: —<* A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another; as I haye loved you, so you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have loye one for another.”

We regret execedingly our inability to give our country readers extracts from the discourse itself; and an outline, however able, could not do it full justice. Suffice it to say, that the well-known benevolent expression of the reverend gentleman’s countenance — his habitual sauvity of manner, aided by an insinuating and rich-toned voice, were all in ad- mirable keeping with, and lent an additional charm to, the sentiments to which he gave utterance. That remarkable kind of charity which breathed through the whole sermon, has been thought by some to be peculiar to certain parts of Scotland and Ireland, and the Welsh border in England. They go so far as to say, that it can no more be acclimated in the New World than the rattle-snakes on the borders of Lough Erne. On this hypothesis we are ourselves at present unable to pro- nounce, but shall watch with interest to see what kind of fruit the seed sown with such care on Thursday evening may produce. Some misapprehensions regarding the benevolent intentiuns of the reverend gentleman must have gone abroad, for two of the managers applied to the Mayor for a Police force to be stationed in the Hall; and it must be confessed that the bene- volent preacher who flourished on this oceasion has th eredit of being the first, at least in this Colony, to wring charity from his hearers through fear of the constable’s baton. Tho congregation itself — unmindful of the sacred character of the meeting, instead of melting hearts and moist eyes— kept tramping as folk are wont to do at the Mechanics’ Institute, when any thing strikes them as being very ridiculous. Such is the strength of local associations, that every one seemed to fancy it must be a meeting of the Political Alliance. A cer- tain employee of the Tory Government — and to whom Respon- sible Government has given plenty of leisure to attend public meetings — was lavish in his plaudits. Ever and anon he would exclaim —** Go it! Isn‘t he giving it tothem!!"" We | wonder how much he would take in hand for the reversion of his chance of the office he formerly held?

+ ——

“THE LATE LIBEL CASE.”

Unper this caption the last Islander contains an article which we notice merely for the purpose of letting our Conservative friends—whose number, we are happy to state, is being rapidly augmented — have an additional proof of the moral nature of the editor of that journal. Sineeroly anxions to avoid anything offensive to the good taste of ogr numerous readers, we shall endeavour to disebarge an unpleasant duty in the mildest manner the nature of the case will admit.

The editor of the Islander, not content to withdraw his case from public notice, and devote his pen to other and more worthy

than £14,000 to the support of public education. Having for a considerable time been at the head of the educational board there, he felt warranted in saying that the mother country | herself might, without shame, take a warning and example in| this great point of education from that little colony. In reference to the North American colonies generally, Dr. H. said he was, very glad to hear Mr. Simmonds express the opinions he had | uttered. Having studied the subject with considerable care, he had no hesitation in saying that to the farmer and the hardy sons of toil who wished to secure an independence for themselves and children, and were willing to work hard for it, the Canadas presented as good an emigration field as could be desired, much better, in his opinion, than either the United States on the one hand, or Australia and California on the other. The President then presented the thanks of the meeting by acclamation to Mr. Simmonds.

Ir is sad to reflect that attempts are being now made in our midst to destroy our pre-eminence in regard to education. After all the pains that haye been taken to perfect our system of public instruction — the noblest that has ever yet been es-

‘‘Honorep Sir:—At.a méeting of the “Catholic Young Men’s | Literary Institute,’ held on Thursday evening, Jan. 22d, 1857,

the correspondence which passed between “yourself and our, the hands of individuals who should be the readiest and the Patron. the Rev. Thomas Phelan, was submitted to that body, | most zealous to defend it. In civilized warfare there are some

| institutions which challenge the respect or forbearance of the

‘*The following resolution was unanimously adopted:

‘Resolved, That the following persons do constitute a-Committee, and

are hereby instructed, to wait upon Hon. Cnarues Yotne, LL.D., and

Roxatp WALKER.’ : ‘In the performance of this our agreeable duty, we beg

leave to say, on behalf of the *C, Y. M. L. I.’ that this unex- | unholy task, who can caleulate the amount of injury, material

an interval of two clear days, ov the 27th of October, fire pected notice you haye been pleased to take of us, and the Was opened on the town aud the Governor's palace. Breaches kindly interest you manifest in our humble endeavors to pro- were male and stormed with trifling loss vn the 29th, and| mute the dissemination of knowledge,—overstepping, as it the troops penetrated to the Goveruor’s palace, but were | 40es, the narrow bounds of sectarian prejudice, which nothing withdrawa in theevening. As the loss was only three killed | P¥t 4 philanthropical spirit and a love of learning could ac- and 12 wounded we may fairly conelude that the retirement ep Se baie igs “ we re weer — of the troops was not owing to any overpowering foree, but|. +. therrewat da wPauch disisterbetad become ® live to

Seemed ded _|reap the rewards of such disinterested benevolence. to motives of prudence, grounded on the obvious danger of; «+ We eannot take leave, honored Sir, without expressing our

exposing a handial of meu to surprise, to fire, or to explo-) thanks for the generous proffer of books you have been pleased sion, or to the risk of having their retreat cut off in the | to make our Institute; and beg to add, that, as midst of one of the most populous and closely built capitals ‘Tis education forms the common mind,’

igibe world, Ayaiu attempts were wade at negotiation, aud | there is nothing we so much desire as good and useful works.

tablished in any part of the Queen’s dominions —it is really too bad to see the fair edifice threatened with annihilation at

belligerents on both sides. Education is one of these. A re- spect for literature has been known to disarm the rapacity even

‘Spare our school-houses! And should they suceeed in their

_and moral, which will yesult to our hitherto happy Colony ? One-third of our revenue frittered away on separate schools — religious and national prejudices, which were fast dying out, revived among our people; for to this it must come at | last, unless. the Léberal Protestants see through the political dodge which is attempted to*be played off on them. That the Party which believes that they were born to rule, and all else in this Island born only to be ruled by them — that this Party should resort to any means likely to further their ends ~is

_ Subjects—continues the system of personal abuse which received

such marked reprobation from the Court and Jury on the trial.

| As to the gentlemen of the jury, their conduct is, in one para-

graph, excused at the expense of Judge Peters; in another, it is imputed to them that they acted from personal antipathy to the plaintiff. The Judge is very coarsely assailed, and our- selves, as defendant, of course, get the lion’s share of abuse. After being styled ‘‘a notorious liar,’’ ‘*a convicted liar,” and favoured with other choice expletives—it is stated that the question of damages was eliminated from the case by the plain- tiff’s counsel, who expressly told the jury that he would be satisfied with merely nominal damages, as they would carry costs. True that, in closing his case, after we had read the gross personalities which had appeared in the columns of the Islander, Mr. Charles Palmer, conscious of the ruinous position in which his client was placed—abandoned the idea of benefit- ting, at oar expense, all the Benevolent Societies in the country, to which Maclean hed publicly and most ostentatiously promis- ed the thousand pounds which he demanded as the price of his character; and be (the Counsel) expressed his willingness to take a sixpenny salve for the damaged reputation of his self- debased client. In Mr. Palmer’s closing speech there was no repetition of the enormity of calling a man a felon—no confin- ing the meaning of that word to the crime of killing one’s posterity that went before him, and his ancestors who came after him ; but the Counsel ‘ soused’’ suddenly down from one thousand pounds to a paltry sixpence! !

The allusion to the Judge’s charge, on which the editor of the Islander comments with characteristic arsumption of superior knowledge, forms by no means the least amusing part of the article under review. In the plenitude of his legal wisdom, he takes no less than four grounds of exception, which we shall briefly dispose of :—First — That there was no

| proof of his haying written the libels of the Is/ander. To

this we answer, that if his own oath in the cause be considered any evidence of truth, he was the editor of the Islander, and

what any one at all who knows the kind of men of which it is

as such might fairly be considered the author of the ‘‘ elegant

ae

geet

Joo es

wae

ey

te aR te, Ss

ne * ge

, : 2 ‘ — + apie ee. a eee

*

MOR So Oo

-~

4G oS og

—_

Aaah