THE 
178 
GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 
[Mar. 18, 
notice the interesting debate in the Lords, on Monday, on 
the legal questions arising out of M‘Noughten’s trial, and 
to the debate in the Commons, on Wednesday, on the pri- 
yilege question. Inthe former case, the Judges are to 
be summoned to a conference on the general law bearing 
on the treatment of lunatics ; and in the latter, the Offi- 
cers of the House are to be allowed to plead in the action 
4 Pitre, and subscriptions are to be opened in every com- 
pany of the National Guard. The Royal Family have 
already set the example by liberal contributions. The 
King has subscribed 20,000f,, the Queen 10,000f., Madame 
Adelaide 10,000f., the Duchess of Orleans 10,000f. for 
herself and the Count de Paris, the Duke and Duchess de 
Nemours 3,000f., the Duke de Montpensier 1000f., and 
Princess Clementine 1000f—It appears that the rumour 
f the lusion of a i 
now pending, so that the question will again be submitted 
to the decision of the Courts of Law.—The concluding 
report of the Chartist trials which we give this week will 
pe read with interest ; the public will be gratified to learn 
that the prisoners themselves, and Mr. T. Duncombe on 
their behalf in the House of Commons, have united in 
bearing testimony to the moderation with which the pro- 
secution was conducted on the part of the Crown, and to the 
impartial conduct of the Judge who presided at the trials. 
Wome News. 
Courr.—Her Majesty and Prince Albert,|the Prince of 
Wales, and the Princess Royal, remain at Buckingham 
Palace, and are quite well. During the week Her Majesty 
and the Prince have honoured the French plays and Covent 
Garden ‘Theatre with their presence. The Queen has 
enjoyed her usual daily walk in the Palace Gardens, and 
took a carriage airing on Wednesday. The Countess of 
Charlemont has succeeded the Duchess of Norfolk as the 
Lady in Waiting. Viscount Sydney and Captain Dun- 
combe have succeeded the Earl of Warwick and Captain 
Hood as the Lord and Groom in Waiting on her Majesty. 
Parliamentary Movements.—Sir A. Grant has resigned 
his seat for Cambridge, on being appointed a Commissioner 
of the Audit Office. Mr. Fitzroy Kelly has addressed the 
electors on the Conservative interest, and Mr. Richard 
Foster has announced himself a candidate on the Liberal 
interest. The nomination of candidates for the repre- 
sentation of Tavistock took place on Wednesday, when 
Mr. Trelawney was proposed as the Liberal candidate, and 
Mr. H. Vincent was brought forward by the Chartists. On 
Thursday Mr. Trelawney was elected bya majority of 44, 
Official Appointments——Col. Sir W. L. Herries has 
peen appointed chairman of the Commissioners for au- 
diting the public accounts, in the room of Mr. F. S. Lar- 
pent, who retires, after having filled the office for many 
years; and Sir A. C. Grant has been appointed a com- 
missioner in the room of Sir W. L. Herries. It has been 
stated that Lord Abinger’s retirement from the Bench will 
take place previous to Easter Term ; that Sir F, Pollock 
will be his Lordship’s successor; that Sir W. Follett will 
become Attorney-General, and the Solicitor-General’s place 
will be supplied by Mr. Fitzroy Kelly : but the report is 
contradicted, on authority, in the Times of this morning, 
The Navy.—The following are the numbers of all the 
flag and other officers, petty officers, seamen, and boys of 
all her Majesty’s ships and vessels in commission, and at 
the Royal dock-yards, on the Ist January, —Admi- 
rals, 2; Vice-Admirals, 4 ; Rear-Admirals, 7 ; Commo- 
dores, 2; Flag-Lieutenants, 11 ; Secretaries, 14 ; Clerks, 
and retinue of Flag-Officers, 125; Captains, 62; Com- 
manders, 84; Lieutenants, 521 ; Master of the Fleet, 1; 
Masters, 121; Chaplains, 54; Inspector of Hospitals 
and Fleets, 1; Deputies, 2; Surgeons, 141; Pursers, 
116; Naval Instructors, 28; Mates, 489 5 Second Mas- 
ters, 144; Assistant-Surgeons, 232; Warrant Officers, 
755; Engineers, 118; Midshipmen, 555; Masters’ As- 
sistants, 224; Volunteers, 330; Clerks, 223; School- 
masters, 23; and Petty Officers, 6,518. Total officers of 
all grades, 10,909.—Able and ordinary seamen, landsmen, 
and boys, including Kromen and Chinese coolies, 19,135, 
—Total for effective naval service on the lst January last, 
exclusive of Marines, 30,044. The vote for the year 
1842-3 for the number of seamen was 30,500; that taken 
for the ensuing financial year 1843-4, is 26,500 seamen 
and 2,000 boys. 
The Army.—The following is a return of the number 
of men voted for the army in each year, from 1835-6 to 
1842-3, both inclusive, the number of all ranks serving 
jn Great Britain, including the recruiting troops and 
companies in the pay of the Kast India Company ; and 
showing also the number of all ranks serving in India ;— 
Total. 
— 
Great Britain. India, 
1835-6 81,271 1 100,991 
1836-7 81,319 101,039 
1837-8 81,311 101,031 
1838-9 89,30. 109,027 
1839-40 199,818 
1840-1 121,112 
1841-2 82,051 121,121 
01,455 8 
1842-3 948 30,399 131,854 
The number of men of all ranks actually serving on the 
5th of April— 
Great Britain. India. Total. 
1840 94,979 23,434 118,413 
1841 94,468 * 27,830 121,798 
1s42 97,792 27,359 125,151 
FForeign. 
France.—The Paris papers supply us with few topics of 
political interest. They are almost exclusively filled with 
details of the calamitous earthquake at Guadaloupe, of 
which we have given an account under our West Indian 
news. The Government has appointed acommittee under 
the Presidency of Vice-Admiral Baron Mackan, for the pur- 
pose of receiving and forwarding the subscriptions for the 
relief of the sufferers. A pastoral letter of the Archbi- 
shop of Paris was read on Sunday, in all the churches of 
the capital, ordering that on Sunday the 19th, during 
h mass, a collection be made through the diocese, for 
the surviving victims of the disaster. All the theatres are 
to give benefits in favour of the inhabitants of La Pointe 
1 treaty between this 
country and France is premature. On Saturday the Mi- 
nister for Public Instruction, in reply to a question put 
to him in the Chamber of Peers, declared, that although 
Great Britain might, like any other Power, make over- 
tures to France for a treaty of commerce, nothing in that 
respect was settled, nor did it appear that any such ar- 
g t would be Juded for some time, Itis ge- 
nerally believed in Paris, that the differences between 
France and Spain will be very soon adjusted, through the 
mediation of the British Cabinet. M. Lesseps will be 
promoted, and consequently withdrawn from Barcelona ; 
and thus a principal impediment to the long-desired re- 
conciliation will be removed. 
Spary.—Our accounts from Madrid are of the 6th inst. 
The elections of that capital were over, and terminated in 
favour of Ministers. The Ministerial candidates were 
returned by a majority of from 1,553 to 1,874. The 
Opposition candidate foremost on the list only counted 
505 votes, and none of the other candidates obtained more 
than 280. The returns hitherto received from the pro- 
vinces indicated that the Ministry would probably obtain 
the majority in 24, and the Opposition in 17, colleges. 
Those of five others were doubtful; but as the greatest 
number of returns was still to come in, no decided opinion 
could be given as to the probable result of the elections. 
In the operations preliminary to the Corunna elections, 
the Infante Don Francisco de Paulo obtained 486 votes, 
being one less than his most successful opponent. At 
Saragossa, his Highness obtained very few votes, and the 
Opposition prevailed. At Barcelona, where all was quiet 
on the 6th, the elections for the Cortes had terminated, 
and are represented as favourable to the Moderado party. 
Porrucat.—We have Lisbon news to the 6th instant. 
A very important decision had been taken by the Chamber 
of Peers, negativing the pretensions of the Pope’s Inter- 
nuncio, and pronouncing that the Royal nomination, in- 
dependently of the Papal confirmation, is sufficient to 
confer upon bishops the right of sitting in the Upper 
Chamber. The deputies had taken up the subject of these 
negotiations warmly, and strongly censured the Govern- 
ment for conceding to the Court of Rome even two out of 
the eight episcopal nominations, as a clear infraction of 
the privileges of the Lusitanian Church.—In regard to 
the tariff question, the speculations at Lisbon are less 
satisfactory than the statements made in the House of 
Commons on Tuesday night by Sir R. Peel, who said that 
the Portuguese Government had made considerable ad- 
vances towards the views of our Government in the 
pending treaty, but not to an extent that could be con~ 
sidered as yet satisfactory. —Another month would enable 
him to say whether or not we were to have a commercial 
treaty with Portugal. 
GrrMany.—tThe Berlin papers give long accounts of 
the historical festival given by the King of Prussia on 
Shrove Tuesday. It was a representation of the Court of 
Ferrara at the end of the 16th century, and nearly all the 
uests were in appropriate costumes. The entertainment 
consisted of a series of ¢ableaua, illustrative of the 
Gerusalemme of Tasso; followed by a ball and supper. 
Some idea may be formed of the brilliancy of the féte 
from the fact that the celebrated painter Cornelius, May- 
erbeer the composer, and the poet Baupach, were em- 
ployed to superintend the ar ts.—In q 
of the new edict on the censorship, noticed in our last, 
which orders that the truths of religious belief shall no 
longer be discussed on philosophical deductions, Professor 
Markeinecke has been refused permission to print his 
lecture on the tendency of Hegel’s philosophy and theology. 
The people of Berlin are anxious to see whether this pro- 
hibition will be confirmed by the superior board.—It is 
understood that the marriage of the Prince of Saxe 
Coburg Gotha with the Princess Clementine of France 
will be solemnized in May next. The Prince and Princess 
propose to pass the summer at Coburg, and the winter at 
Paris. Accounts from Vienna state that the Archduke 
Charles is dangérously ill. 
MantA.—By the Levant mail, we learn that a melan- 
choly occurrence took place at Valletta on the 6th inst., 
in the murder of Dr. Martin, the Chief Surgeon of the 
MaltaiNaval Hospital. He was shot dead by a sentry of 
the 88th Regiment, on duty at the Victualling Office, as 
he was stepping out of the door of Sir John Louis, where 
he had been on a professional visit. No cause has been 
assigned for this atrocity, but the authorities are engaged 
in investigating the circumstances. 
TuRKEY AND Syr1A.—The Levant mail has brought 
advices from Constantinople to the 22nd ult. They an- 
nounce that accounts have been received from Belgrade 
of the detection of a conspiracy, having for its object the 
assassination of Prince Alexander and his Ministers. 
The conspirators have been seized, and, if their confes- 
sions are to be believed, they acted at the direct instiga- 
tion of the Russian Consul ; one of them, moreover, hav- 
ing been found with 5,000 ducats in his possession, which 
he had received as an earnest of his crime. The Govern- 
ment, upon the discovery of the plot, had removed from 
Belgrade to Cragowitz. The Turkish Government and 
the Ambassadors have been struck with consternation at 
this open attempt to bring about a solution of this ques- 
tion, which diplomacy had failed to settle at Constanti- 
nople.—Intelligence from Beyrout, of the 8th ult., men- 
tions that Bishop Alexander was still there, awaiting the 
arrival of the imperial firman, authorizing him to proceed 
with the construction of the Protestant Church at Jeru- 
salem. The schismatical Greeks of Lebanon had peti- 
tioned Assad Pasha to be allowed to appoint a chief of 
their own religion. The Catholic Greeks had refused to 
acknowledge the Maronite Kaimacan.—An elaborate spe- 
cimen of English manufacture, intended as a present from 
Ali Effendi, the Turkish Ambassador, to the Sultan, has 
just been completed by Mr. Taunton, of Islington, at a 
cost of 500 guineas. It is an umbrella of the ordinary 
size, covered with crimson satin, manufactured in Spital- 
fields expressly for the purpose. The metal of which it 
is composed is of pure gold, The handle, which opens 
with a secret spring, contains, in addition to other articles, 
old chronometer, a sun-dial and compass, set with 
brilliants of the first water. 
CuinA.—The news by the Overland Mail comes down 
to the 3d Feb. It is of the highest importance, and par- 
ticularly that relating to'China. It appears that on the 
23d Nov., Sir Henry Pottinger published a proclamation de- 
claring that since his arrival at Amoy he had learned with 
extreme horror and astonishment that more than 100 
British subjects, who had been wrecked in the Nerbuddah 
and Ann, in Sept., 1841, and March, 1842, on the coast 
off the Island of Formosa, had been put to death subse- 
quently to the treaty of Nankin, by the Chinese authori- 
ties, who pleaded the order of the Emperor in defence of 
this cruelty. The Nerbuddah had 240 natives of India 
on board, sailors or camp-followers, all of whom were 
executed or died, save two. The Ann had 57 souls on 
board, of whom 14 were Europeans. From this ship but 
six of the Europeans and five others escaped. Their ill- 
treatment appears to have been of the most inhuman kind. 
Tt seems from a more detailed account, previously issued 
by Sir H. Pottinger, that, immediately on their reaching 
shore, the crew of the Ann were seized, “stripped, and 
marched some distance without a particle of covering, 
exposed to a cutting north wind. Two men died from 
cold, and several others dropped from the same cause and 
fatigue, and were carried on in baskets to the capital 
(about 90 miles from the spot where the brig was wrecked), 
where they were separated into small parties, and put 
into distinct prisons in irons.’ They were almost 
starved, and those who did not die under this treat- 
ment were, for the most part, beheaded in or about 
August last. The proclamation concludes by stating 
that the British Plenipotentiary was resolved to demand 
from the Emperor the degradation and punishment 
of the local officers, in consequence of whose false repre- 
sentations these enormities had been committed, and that 
their property should be confiscated for the benefit and 
relief of the families which had so severely suffered from the 
effects of this barbarity. It is also stated that a renewal of 
hostilities was threatened in case the demand were not com~ 
plied with. In addition to this, a formidable riot broke out at 
Canton on the 7th Dec., caused, it is said, by the disorderly 
conduct of some Lascars, from the ship Fort William, 
who were allowed to go ashore without any superintending 
authority. The British factory was attacked, the flag and 
flagstaff burnt, the doors and windows forced open, and 
the building pillaged, fired, and consumed. How far the 
riots might have proceeded it is impossible to say ; they 
were, however, checked by the timely arrival of Sir Hugh 
Gough in the Proserpine steamer. ‘The merchants at 
Canton began a correspondence with Sir H. Gough, who 
remained there until the 14th, and also with Sir H. Pot- 
tinger,’ who was at Hong-Kong, requesting the latter to 
order a protective force to be sent to Canton, in order 
that they might carry on their commerce in security. 
This application received a decided refusal from Sir H, 
Pottinger, who, in his reply, made some severe comments 
on the conduct of the merchants ; who are said to have 
created much distrust in the minds of the Chinese authori- 
ties by smuggling opium, and other goods, at Whampoa 
and Canton. The Imperial Commissioners who were to 
have been at Canton early in December had not arrived, 
and some doubt was entertained at Macao that the Em- 
peror would break faith. In the meantime, the arrival 
at Singapore, on the Ist January, of 43 transports, having 
on board the Sepoy part of the China expedition, proves 
that the Envoy had not then entertained any serious 
apprehension of the renewal of hostilities. Several 
regiments had reached Madras in January. There were, 
nevertheless, more than 20 British vessels of war, with 
five steamers, remaining on the Chinese coast. he 
land force then consisted principally of about 6,000 Eu- 
ropean troops, most of them living in the garrisons of the 
stilloceupied places. From Hong-Kong we have favour- 
able accounts of the rapid advancement of this, the new- 
est of our colonial possessions, An English weekly news- 
paper has been regularly published for nearly a year, and 
the advertisements give a curious insight into the pro- 
gress and requirements of civilisation in that distant island. 
Among the announcements are the. European comforts of 
soap, candles, claret, champagne, an hotel, a solicitor, 
and the sale of “A Manilla horse, an Amoy mare an 
colt, and an omnibus !’? The following advertisement, 
announcing the progress of a theatre, may amuse our 
readers :+‘* Advance Hong-Kong!!! — ‘Theatre Royal. 
Messrs. Dutronquoy and Co. have at length the satis- 
faction of announcing to the nobility, gentry, and clergy 
of this flourishing and opulent colony, that their theatre 
is advancing most rapidly towards completion. It is 
6n a most splendid scale, and what with the pieces that 
will be performed, the scenery that will be introduced, 
and the splendid assemblage of rank, beauty, and fashion 
which they hope to be honoured with, there is no doubt 
but that the blaze of splendour-will dazzle the eyes of all 
beholders.—Vivar Reena |—N.B._ The actresses have 
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