Professor Wilson also mentioned the interesting acquisition by Major Rawlinson, at Bagdad, of a MS. of the Korán, in the Cufic character, compiled by Othman, the third kaliph, consequently about 1,200 years old. He was gratified to add, that the major intended to present it to the library of the EastIndia House.

The twenty-second annual meeting of the Society was announced to take place on the 17th May next.

Chronicle.

PARLIAMENT.-In neither House of Parliament has any business occurred of much interest or importance, concerning our Eastern possessions, during the past month. The attention of the Lower House has been almost absorbed by the discussions respecting the increased grant to Maynooth College.

On the 1st April, Dr. Bowring, in the House of Commons, obtained the re-appointment of a select committee to inquire into the state of colonial accounts, and the means of improving them. In the course of his remarks upon the imperfect and irregular manner in which the accounts of our colonies are kept, he observed that, at the Audit Office, the accounts of Ceylon were eleven years in arrear; those of the Cape of Good Hope, eight years, those of Australia, seven years; and those of the Mauritius, the same period,

On the 6th April, Mr. Hume, in moving for copy of the Draft Act of the Legislative Council of India, for altering the import duties, inquired whether the measure had originated with the Governor-General. Lord Jocelyn replied, that it had emanated from this country, and was sanctioned by the Board of Control, as a means of supplying the deficiency of revenue occasioned by the abolition of the transit duties at Madras, it being considered that an increase of the duty upon imports would fall chiefly upon the wealthier classes of natives, and upon British residents.

On the 10th April, Mr. Hutt presented a petition from the Legislative Council of New South Wales, praying that the privilege granted to Canada, of sending its wheat and flour to the United Kingdom at a nominal import duty, may, on a common principle of impartial justice, be extended to that colony.

Law.—A case of considerable importance, as regards the public on the one hand, and the newspaper press of this country on the other, was tried in the Court of Queen's Bench on the 27th March. It was an action for libel brought by Mr. Saul Solomon, of St. Helena, against the printer of the Times newspaper. The libel was contained in two letters published in that journal, in which a strange disease, which had attacked the passengers and officers of the Moffatt, on its voyage from Bombay to England, after that vessel had stopped at St. Helena, and taken water, which was supplied from tanks on board a schooner belonging to Mr. Solomon, and employed by him for that purpose, was stated to have been caused by the water being run into a copper tank, from which the casks were filled from Mr. Solomon's vessel. Upon the trial, it was clearly proved that the passengers and officers, who suffered from the illness, were attacked subsequently to the arrival of the ship at St. Helena; that the illness was attributed to a metallic poison, Mr. Greene, the surgeon of the Moffatt, Asiat.Journ.N.S. VOL.I.No.1.

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stating he had not the slightest doubt that a metallic poison was the cause, and Mr. Mason, a member of the College of Physicians, who attended Mr. Gray, the chief mate of the Moffatt, immediately after his arrival, deposing that his symptoms were analogous to those of a person suffering under a metallic poison of some kind. On the other side, it was as clearly proved that the tanks containing the water at St. Helena were of wood, planed, caulked, and pitched, there being no copper in the vessel that could come in contact with the water, and that the remaining water, when carefully analyzed in England, was pure and good, without any metallic impregnation. In this state of things, there being no appearance of malicious intention either in the Times or the writer of the letters (who was examined on the trial), the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, with £700 damages; the effect of which must deter the conductors of journals from inserting public warnings of this nature, unless fortified (which is often next to impossible) with legal proof of the facts. Lord Denman told the jury that the libel conveyed a moral imputation upon the plaintiff, and that the defendant should not have inserted the letter till he had ascertained that the statement was "absolutely true."-An attempt was made to obtain a new trial, on the ground of excessive damages; but the Court refused the application on that ground.

ELECTION OF DIRECTORS.-On the 9th April, a Court of Directors was held at the East-India House, when the thanks of the Court were voted unanimously to Mr. J. Shepherd, chairman, and Sir H. Willock, K.L.S., deputy chairman, for their great application and attention to the affairs of the Company during the past year. A ballot was also taken for the election of six directors, in the room of Mr. J. Cotton, Mr. J. Loch, Mr. C. Mills, Mr. W. H. C. Plowden, Mr. H. Shank, and Mr. H. St. George Tucker, who go out by rotation, when Major-General Sir James Law Lushington, G. C.B.; Mr. George Lyall, M.P.; Mr. Elliot Macnaghten; Mr. John Petty Muspratt; Mr. Martin Thomas Smith, and Mr. William Wigram, were elected. On the ensuing day, a Court was held, when the new directors took the oaths and their seats. Sir Henry Willock, K.L.S., was chosen chairman, and Mr. James Weir Hogg deputy chairman, for the year ensuing.

MEMBER OF COUNCIL at Madras.—On the 23rd April, a Court of Directors was held at the East-India House, when Mr. Henry Dickinson was appointed a provisional councillor for Madras, on the vacancy occasioned by the decease of Mr. John Dent.

BISHOP OF COLOMBO:-Downing Street, April 24-Her Majesty has been pleased to constitute the island of Ceylon to be a Bishop's See, to be called the Bishopric of Colombo, and to appoint the Rev. James Chapman, D.D., to be ordained and consecrated Bishop of the said See.

DR. WOLFF.-Dr. Wolff arrived at Southampton on the 12th April, from Constantinople, on his return from Bokhara. He was most enthusiastically cheered on his landing, and was met on the quay by his wife and son, and Capt. Grover. The doctor looked very well considering the fatigue and privations, as well as anxiety of mind, he has endured since leaving this place. He has brought with him several valuable presents, consisting of a Persian dress and shawls, given to him by the King of Bokhara. He has also, we understand, some of the effects of the imprisoned officers whose release he went to Bokhara to endeavour to obtain.-Hampshire Independent.

On the 20th, Dr. Wolff preached on behalf of the Society for the Promotion: of Christian Knowledge, and also publicly returned thanks for his safe return, at Trinity District Church, Gray's-Inn Road. The Marchioness of Anglesey, and several other ladies of distinction, occupied seats near the pulpit.. Previous to leaving the church, Dr. Wolff engaged in conversation with the Mar. quess of Anglesey, and others, who congratulated him on his safe return. On passing into the street with Lady Georgiana, the reception of the rev. doctor was warm, and he shook hands with several individuals, strangers to him, and retired much affected.

ACCIDENTAL DEATH AT THE EAST-INDIA COMPANY'S MILITARY SEMINARY.--On the 3rd April, Gentleman Cadet John Baillie (nephew of a late East-India Director), while amusing himself, with several other cadets, in drawing a heavy iron roller, slipped, when the roller passed over him, and instantly crushed him to death. It appears that, on his repairing to the cricket-ground, he had been cautioned not to jump on the roller while it was in full motion; notwithstanding which, however, he endeavoured to do so, and while in the act his foot slipped; he fell backwards, and the roller passed over him from foot to head. The youth was in his eighteenth year, and was the son of Mr. G. Baillie, late of the Bengal Medical Establishment. He was universally

esteemed.

MADRAS MILITARY FUND.-The election of secretary to this fund has been decided in favour of Messrs. Grindlay and Co., East-India army agents, of which firm Capt. P. A. Reynolds is a member. Major Montgomerie, a distinguished officer of the Madras cavalry, was also a candidate.

CHINESE IN LIVERPOOL. We understand there are now staying at the house of Mr. J. Burgess, Talbot Inn, Vernon Street, two Chinese youths, of the respec tive ages of 17 and 18 years. They were brought to this country by the late Capt. Kerr, of the Inglewood, who died on his passage home. Their features are of the genuine Chinese cast, and, being habited in the costume of their country, they are great objects of curiosity. They are daily visited by numbers of our townsmen. Being very intelligent, they are making great progress in the English language.—Liverpool Mercury.

RECOVERY OF SUnken Bullion.-A letter from Madras says :-" A Spanish schooner, fishing among the shoals in the China Sea, discovered a chain-cable over the coral reef on the East London shoal, and on a close examination a sextant and a chronometer, and close to these articles what first appeared lead, but turned out to be sycee silver; and 150,000 dollars' worth of the precious metal was found and put on board the schooner, when the skipper most honourably proceeded to Macao or Canton, and there delivered the whole of the treasure to the insurance office, who gave the noble-minded Spaniard about 50,000 rupees. It was conjectured in China that the bullion was part of the cargo of the Christina, as she sailed two years ago for China, and has never been heard of since."

CHINESE DONATION BATTA.-On the 12th April, the officers and men in the naval service of her Majesty and the Company, employed in the late Chinese war, received their shares of donation batta, as ordered, according to their rank and length of service. The amount to be distributed is about £130,000, and is in addition to the pay.-Globe.

FRENCH AND CHINESE SILK.-We find the following in the Censeur of Lyons, of the 14th inst. :-" Some Chinese silks, prohibited in France, and seized at

the Custom-house, have been placed at the disposal of the Chamber of Commerce of Lyons, in order that our manufacturers may judge of the state of manufactures in a country with which France is about to open a more constant communication. These silks are composed of white and coloured shawls and scarfs, embroidered by the hand. The shawls and one of the scarfs are esti mated at 450f., the other scarfs at 300f. each. The patterns are handsome, but already known in France, and have been evidently copied from French stuffs, or imitated from stuffs exported from England, where the manufacturer adopted the French pattern according to the custom of England. Two things particularly distinguish these Chinese articles from those of French manufac ture. The silk which forms the ground is of great beauty, as is the manner in which the pattern is traced on the silk before it is embroidered. With respect to the latter, which in France is generally traced in black or blue lines, and leaves a mark which is easily perceived, in China this trace is made with a matter unknown to us, and which, after a short time, totally disappears. As to the silk ground, it can be manufactured fully as well, and we have seen, at the exposition of French manufactures in 1844, silks of a similar quality embroidered, which might well challenge comparison with the Chinese silks. The only thing we want, in order fully to equal the silk ground, is the first material. The entire beauty of the Chinese silk is comprised in the ground, which is remarkable, and derives its superiority from the manner in which the raw silk is spun. We do not, therefore, participate in the fears entertained by certain manufacturers of Lyons, who have signed a petition to the Chamber of Peers against the importation of Indian silks on the payment of duty. The manu facture of silk is too well established in France to apprehend any injury from foreign competition."

MAJOR BIRRELL.-The London Gazette, March 28, announces that the Queen has granted unto Major David Birrell, 1st European regiment of light infantry, Bengal establishment, her royal license and permission to accept and wear the insignia of the third class of the Order of the Dooranee Empire, which the late Shah Shooja-ool-Moolk conferred upon him, in testimony of his majesty's approbation of the services rendered by him during the campaign in Affghanistan.

EXPORTATION OF BRITISH SALT TO INDIA.-The salt manufacturers of Cheshire, whose business has been in a very depressed state for some time, are endeavouring to induce the East-India Company to alter their system of supplying their Indian subjects with salt. At present, the salt sold by the Company's agents, who alone have the privilege of supplying it to the native population, is manufactured on the sea-shore in India, by evaporating the seawater. This operation gives a coarse, dirty, and impure salt, which is supposed to cost the company about £3 a ton, and which they retail at £12. 10s., raising a revenue of some millions sterling from the trade. Now, excellent salt may be bought in Liverpool, free on board ship, for 10s.3d. a ton; and as the freight of salt, which serves for ballast, is very moderate (not more than from 20s. to 25s. a ton to Calcutta), it may be laid down there at about 35s. a ton; there would, therefore, be a considerable saving to the Company in this way of obtaining it, which they might turn either to the increase of the revenue, or to the advantage of the consumer, as they thought proper. The quality of the English salt is much superior to that made in India, and even supposing the consumption not to increase, a demand for the present supply, which amounts

to at least 400,000 tons a year, would give a great impulse to one of our most valuable manufactures, and the freight of it, at even 20s. a ton, would be an equally great advantage to British shipping, and especially to the shipping of Liverpool. This port owes no small share of its prosperity to its vicinity to the salt of Cheshire and the coals of Lancashire, and nothing could benefit it more than the giving it the privilege of supplying to the 100,000,000 of inhabitants of British India that which is the only seasoning which that people of rice-eaters usually consume with its food.-Liverpool Times.

CHIEF JUSTICESHIP OF NEW SOUTH WALES.-We understand, from undoubted authority, that the above appointment, rendered vacant by the decease of the late Sir James Dowling, is to be filled up by a candidate from the colonial bar, and not from that of England.-Times.

TRANSIT OF SHIPS BY RAIL-ROAD ACROSS THE ISTHMUS OF SUEZ.-Sir William C. Harris (major of engineers) has submitted to the Court of Directors of the East-India Company a project for transporting laden merchant-vessels by railroad across the Isthmus of Suez. He proposes to construct a class of narrow steam-vessels, of about 800 tons burden, suited for freight, and to convey them across the Isthmus upon trucks, by means of locomotive engines. "The inaccessible character of the Mediterranean sea over against the sea of Suez, and the general unfitness of all the ports or roadsteads on that coast for vessels of any considerable draught, clearly indicate the Nile, about Cairo, as the most eligible point to which the rail-road could be carried." He gives some of the general details, observing that a single line of rails would suffice, and although constructed for steam-vessel trucks, the rails could be equally employed for the transit of mails, passengers, heavy baggage, and coals. The expense of such a rail-road, with inclined planes, stationary and locomotive engines, carriages and trucks, he estimates within one million sterling. The distance is 84 miles, which might be traversed in six hours; and the rail-road might be completed in two years.

ORIENTAL MANUSCRIPTS.-Oxford, April 26.-In the last half-yearly catalogue of the new purchases made by the Bodleian Library, is the valuable collection of Persian, Arabic, Sanscrit, and Zend MSS., in number about 730, that belonged to the late Sir W. Ouseley, and which was purchased for the library at the price of £2,000. The library has also recently made some very extensive and valuable additions to its collection of Sanscrit MSS. The Oppenheim Hebrew collection, which the librarian was so fortunate as to secure some years ago, when offered for sale at Hamburgh, is probably unrivalled, and to this day German Orientalists lament the supineness that suffered it to be lost to their country. These varied treasures of Oriental] literature are constantly attracting learned foreigners to this country, who find it necessary to consult the MSS. at the Bodleian before publishing the works on which they are engaged.

F CITY OF NANKING.-We have been highly gratified by a sight of Mr. Burford's Panorama of the city of Nanking and the surrounding country, recently opened to the public. A magnificent bird's-eye view is given of the interior of this ancient city, once the capital of the southern empire, the vast Yang-tsze-keang river and lofty mountains bounding the distance. The rich and curious Porcelain Tower, or Pagoda of Gratitude, is a conspicuous object, and a group of the various actors in the late negotiations presents full-length portraits of Sir H. Pottinger, General Gough, E-le-poo, Key-ing, &c. The pecu