three hours' engagement there was about a hundred of
'em shot. I destroyed one crew, and disabled the rest.
The next morning I hoisted out the British ensign, that
the chief of the pirates might know who he had to do
with. But he hoisted up another British ensign. Now,
he couldn't have bought one in those seas, and the one
he held up could only have been gained by the massacre
of those to whom it had belonged." He went on describing
the ferocity and bloodthirstiness of these pirates, and
assured the meeting that if they were not put down,
they would cut off every British ship that went into
those seas. His speech was received with mingled cheers
and hisses. Mr. George Thompson next addressed the
meeting, and said he hoped the meeting would commission
him, in his place in parliament, to demand a
commission of inquiry. Then they could have the last
speaker before it to give evidence; and if he (Mr. Thompson)
were on the inquiry, he would not be satisfied till
he turned the witnesses inside out. Resolutions were
passed, demanding a parliamentary inquiry into the
slaughter of the Dyaks under the direction of Sir James
Brooke, on a vague and general imputation of piracy,
and condemning the principle of head-money for the
destruction of pirates; and it was agreed to present a
petition to parliament.

An important meeting was held in Freemasons' Hall,
on the 6th, to promote the Sanatory Condition of London.
The Bishop of London presided; several noblemen, some
members of parliament, the Bishop of Chichester, and a
number of clergymen, were present; Lord Ashley, Lord
A. Grosvenor, Mr.Wyld, M.P., the Rev. Dr. Cumming,
Mr. C. Dickens, Mr. Slaney, M.P. Mr. Pownall, and
the Rev. Dr. Worthington, were the speakers. In
opening the business, the Bishop of London observed,
that amidst much that is dark and discouraging in these
times, there is much to cheer and animate in this
sanatory cause: its effect on public feeling, if carried out to
the extent he hoped, would lessen the fearful chasms in
respect of worldly comfort which divides the extremely
poor from the extremely rich. A sense of this duty
acting on a few individuals, and afterwards pressing
upon a larger body of associated persons, has at length
reached the legislature; and the legislature, thus
awakened, had already done much. But the provisions
for improving the health of London had proved by no
means sufficient; and it was in the hope of urging
government to effect stronger measures, that the meeting
had been convened. Lord Robert Grosvenor said that
the meeting was the resuscitation of an association
practically defunct, in order that the metropolis might be
brought under the general law respecting sanatory
measures. Suitable resolutions were passed, and a
number of noblemen and gentlemen were appointed to act
as officers of the "Metropolitan Sanatory Association."

The returns of the Board of Trade just issued show a
total increase of exports compared with those of 1818,
to the amount of £9,901,717. All the great staple
manufactures shared the movement, except machinery,
which fell off by £108,585. The imports of wheat
exceeded those of 1848 by more than 1,250,000 quarters,
and at the same time the quantity taken for consumption
was more than 4,500,000 quarters in excess of last
year. The import of coffee increased largely, that of
sugar moderately—the considerable increase in the
Colonial being nearly balanced by a decrease in Foreign.

The Duke of Portland has announced to his tenants
in Nottinghamshire, that, from Lady-day last, a moiety
of their rents shall be calculated according to the
average price of wheat for the half-year preceding the
usual time of payment, taking 56s. per quarter as the
standard of the present rents.

The Marquis of Hertford has announced his intention
to allow 15 per cent, to such of his Irish tenants as pay
their last half-year's rent by next April; and to allow
certain other tenants tickets for draining to the extent
of 20, 25, and, in some cases, 30 per cent, of their last
half-year's rent, without any charge of interest. He
asks the surrender of no lease, and much less will he
interfere with the tenant-right which his tenants have
enjoyed.

According to a report by Mr. Braidwood, the
superintendent of the Fire Brigade, there were 838 fires in
London during the last year; 256 of which were
productive of much damage, the others were slight. There
were eleven fatal fires, with a loss of twenty lives. In
1848, the total of fires was 805.

A deputation, representing the paper-makers,
publishers, and printers of Great Britain, had an interview
with Lord John Russell, in Downing Street, on the
12th, on the subject of The Paper Duties. The spokesmen
were Mr. Crompton, of Farnworth, in Lincolnshire;
Mr. James Baldwin, of Birmingham; Mr.
Robert Chambers, and Mr. Charles Knight. Mr.
Crompton urged the unfairness of imposing on a raw
material of the most worthless character—the very
refuse made from cotton and linen in the process of
manufacturing them into cloth—a duty amounting to
600 percent, upon its cost price when made into paper;
whilst cotton manufactures have obtained the removal
of a tax of only five-sixths of a penny per pound—not
more than 5 per cent, on its value—on the cotton itself.
He detailed various vexatious obstructions caused by
the capricious and inconsistent conduct of the Excise;
and urged the demoralising tendency of the tax, which
was encouraging iniquitous practices, and breaking
down the probity of manufacturers.—Mr. Robert
Chambers illustrated the pressure of the paper-duties
on the publication of cheap periodical literature. There
was one called a "Miscellany of Tracts," which his
brother and he published. It met a large sale, and was
in the way of doing some good amongst the humbler
classes. It returned, however, so slight a profit that
they gave it up, while selling to the extent of 80,000
copies. On the whole amount of this work printed, the
duty was £6220. Now, this would have been a very
ample profit in itself, though a mere shade upon each
copy. In a cheap publication, the value of paper may
be set down at nearly one-fourth of the selling price,
and considerably above one third of the price to the
retailer.—Mr. Charles Knight developed the injurious
tendency of the tax on "cheap publications for which
high priced skilled authorship is paid." He had been
able to show that the duty had been a positive burden
upon the "Penny Cyclopædia," to the extent of £16,500.
That work was undertaken under the auspices of Lord
John Russell himself, amongst other eminent persons;
but the cost had been borne by Mr. Knight. It had
never been remunerative; for the cost was largely
increased by the natural operation of the tax upon the
price of paper This was an example of the peculiar
burden of the tax upon the higher kind of literary
labour, compelled to compete with low-priced authorship
in the rate of cheapness. Mr. Knight believed that the
great mass of publications were tending to cheapness—
the good as well as the bad. He believed that books
for the few were fast going out of demand; and further,
that the many would ultimately pay the proper rewards
of good writers as well as, if not better, than under the
present system of a limited demand. But, with the
paper-duty, the profits of a publisher employing the
best authors to produce cheap books were so curtailed
by the burden of the tax upon the large amount of
paper used for such books, that the higher class of
literature was deprived of its proper encouragement.—The
Premier received the deputation with courtesy, but
gave no indication of his sentiments on the subject.

A meeting was held at Willis's Rooms on the 13th
for the purpose of condemning the measures of government
for promoting National Education. Upon the
platform were the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Bishop
of Exeter, and the Bishop of Chichester; Lords Nelson,
Campden, Fielding, Castlereagh, and Lyttelton; Arch-
deacons Manning, Thorp, Harrison, and Allen; and a
long list of reverend dignitaries and gentlemen. The
most notable speech was made by the Rev. Dr. Biber,
who moved a resolution against the Kneller Hall
Normal school, and concluded thus—"It was avowed by the
Privy Council that the only Gospel taught at Kneller
Hall was that which was comprised in the moral agencies
relied upon by the Poor Law Commissioners for the
elevation of the poor. Of him who sought to introduce
such a Gospel into the education of this country be
hesitated not to say, without any personal feeling, 'Let him
be accursed;' and he believed that the events which
would be witnessed by the next two generations would
fully justify the use of such language."