The Right Honourable the Governor entered upon the following topics in the course of his speech for the occasion :

Four public Ordinances were to be brought forward in the course of the Session -1st. The Labour Ordinance, which had been proposed as an arrangement favourable alike to the interests of the employer and of the employed.

2d-The Ordinance for the Registration of Slaves its object is to assimilate the law of the Old Kandyan Provinces to that of the maritime Provinces on the subject. The registry would be for the future the only admissible evidence for the proof of titles to slaves. The Governor made the subjoined remark on this proposed Ordinance::-" When I first came to this Colony, my attention was early drawn to the general question of slavery; and I have ever since felt the utmost anxiety to effect some arrangement for the gradual removal of the evil: political circumstances, however, have retarded that design."

3d.-The Ordinance for assimilating the law in Ceylon respecting the recovery of debts due to the Crown, to the law in the mother-country.

4th. The Ordinance for assimilating the laws for the management of the Customs in Ceylon to the English laws. The Governor stated that the port-charges were very unequal-they pressed too hard on vessels of the lower class, and too lightly on those of the higher. It was the object of the Ordinance to equalize them, and to fix them at the rate of 4d. per ton generally. The immediate loss in revenue in consequence would be about £1000 per annum; but the increase of trade to be expected would most likely restore the sacrifice. The duties were to be collected on precisely the same footing as in the mother-country.

The President closed the business of the day by moving the first reading of the Ordinance “for the better regulation of Servants, Labourers, &c." which passed without discussion.

HIS MAJESTY'S PARDON TO SURGEON MCDERMOT.-IIead-Quarters, Colombo, 15th August, 1837.-Extract from a Letter addressed to the Major-General commanding the Forces by the Military Secretary to the General Commanding-inChief, dated Horse Guards, 18th March, 1837 :-"I am directed, &c., &c., &c., with reference to the proceedings of the General Court-Martial, held at Colombo, in January 1834, for the trial of Assist.-Surg. Dr. Michael McDermott, of 61st regiment, to acquaint you that the case of Mr. McDermot has been again submitted to the King, and His Majesty has been pleased, under all the circumstances, to extend his most gracious pardon to him, and to command that he be restored to H. M.'s Service" with a view to his being re-employed."

DEPARTURE OF THE 78TH HIGHLANDERS.-Head-Quarters, Colombo, 30th August. The 78th Highlanders having been relieved from this command after a period of eleven years' service in Ceylon, the greater part of which has been fulfilled under the orders of the Major-General, it remains for him to offer them the last official token of his consideration, the expression of his public approbation, and farewell. It is to the good conduct of the 78th Highlanders, during the long period that they have served with him, that the regret must be ascribed which he now so sensibly feels at their departure. To Lieut.-Col. Douglas his best acknowledgments are due for the firm, temperate, and efficient manner in which he has always conducted the duties of his command; and to the officers (commissioned and non-commissioned) for their exemplary deportment, as well as for the cordial and zealous support they have at all times afforded their Commanding Officer.

COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION.-Dec. 5.-MR. G. F. YOUNG presented a petition from Mr. R. M. Martin (see page 14), complaining of the present mismanagement of the Colonies, instancing that between March 1833 and April 1835 there had been no fewer than eight Secretaries and Under-Secretaries of State, and suggesting that, as the extent of territory under the Colonial Secretary was not less than 1,750,000 square miles, with a population of 5,000,000 British subjects, an administrative Board should be formed, consisting of retired Governors, Judges, and Civilians, who possessed a local and general knowledge of our maritime possessions.-Petition ordered to lie on the Table.

LT.-COL FRITH.-Dec. 6.-Mr. O'Connell brought up a petition from Lt.-Col. Frith, respecting his claims on the late Nabob of Oude and the East India Company, which immediately after the recess he should move to be referred to a select committee.

TERRITORY OF MYSORE.-Dec. 12.-Mr. Crawford moved for copies of all letters which have been addressed by Messrs. Crawford, Colvin, & Co. to the Lords of the Treasury and the Board of Trade, with the replies thereto, on the subject of the duty leviable on Mysore coffee imported from Madras in the ships Onyx and Sesostris; copies of all communications which have passed between the India Board and the Court of Directors of the East India Company, in reference to the question whether Mysore be a British possession; copies of the certificates granted by the Collector of Sea Customs at Madras, and lodged by the Masters of the ships Onyx, Sesostris, and Claudine, in the Custom House at London, purporting that the Mysore coffee imported by those several ships, was "the growth of a British possession within the limits of the East India Company's charter." Sir J. C. Hobhouse and Sir J. Carnac objected, and the motion was withdrawn.

EAST INDIA PRIZE-MONEY.-Dec. 14. In reply to a question from Mr. Hume, Sir J. Hobhouse said, that every exertion was being made to expedite the payments of prize-money to those persons who served in the last war in India; and that a dispatch had been sent out in August last, urging the necessity of its speedy distribution.

PROCEEDINGS AT THE EAST INDIA HOUSE.

EAST INDIA HOUSE.-Dec. 20.-Abolition of the Company's Agency at Canton, (concluded from our last.)-Mr. Weeding expressed his regret that the Directors of the Company had not, seeing the facilities of obtaining remittances from India by other means, abolished the Agency. As, however, that had not been the case, he now asked the Court of Directors and of Proprietors to put an end to it. As there were no doubt many gentlemen present who were not aware of its nature, he would state that the gentlemen composing that body drew bills in Canton on the Bengal Government, which were either purchased with money or bills payable in England, on condition that goods were placed in the hands of the Company, the bills being drawn for one-third less of the value of such goods, which were hypothecated to the East India Company, with power of sale in the event of the bills not being duly paid. The effect of these operations was to render the exchange very changeable and injurious to commercial transactions, and many parties had pronounced an opinion that they were illegal. If, however, they were

legal, they were against the spirit of the law by which the commercial operations of the East India Company were abolished. The question was, whether it was compatible with the interests of the Company and of the British merchants to continue the Agency? If he could shew that the Agency was not necessary, the Court of Proprietors ought to recommend its discontinuance. He would found his objections to it, not on its legality, but on the ground that it was injurious to the commerce of England and India, and unnecessary for any purpose but that of producing loss to this country, independently of the charge occasioned by carrying it on, which was nearly £20,000. For the safety of the commerce between England, India, and China, he hoped the Agency would not be continued. In 1834 the Company's commercial operations were brought to a close, and the British merchants, the manufacturers, and the consumers prepared to take their place. The latter sent their goods to China, and the profits were calculated at £700,000 to £800,000, the rate of exchange then being 4s. 11d. to 5s. the dollar. The merchants and manufacturers thought they had secured their profits, when an advertisement was issued on the 7th of October from the Company's Finance Committee, inviting persons to accept advances at 4s. 7d. the dollar; thus knocking down the exchange 4d., or 7%1⁄2 per Cent., and occasioning a loss of £50,000 to the merchants in the transactions of the previous six months. The British merchants were ready to buy teas to the extent of £1,000,000 or £2,000,000; but as soon as the operations of the Finance Committee were known, by which an additional capital of £900,000 was in circulation, up rose the price of teas and other China produce, occasioning a further loss of £250,000, and instead of 30,000,000 lbs. to 40,000,000 lbs. of tea being brought forward, 40,000,000 lbs. to 50,000,000 lbs. came to market. In consequence of this, the price went down here full 20 per Cent., producing a further loss to the trade of £400,000. Thus there had been lost to the British merchants not less than £650,000 by the mistake of the Company in forcing this Agency into operation. The Chinese had realized a large amount from their teas, while the Company on their stock of tea on hand had in the cost price sustained a loss of £600,000. The principle adopted, therefore, by the Company, in the formation of the Agency, was an unsound one, the Company having by it been saddled with an enormous loss, as well as the British merchants and manufacturers. Another effect of the Agency might be, that the Chinese would become exporters of their own produce without reference to the importation of British goods, and the trade of India injured. The inhabitants of India traded largely with China, and the effect of the Agency at Canton being to raise the price of China produce, the trade was injured, and there was no reason why it should be continued. It was not necessary for obtaining remittances. From the 1st of May, 1835, to April, 1836, the Company had received at their own rate of exchange upwards of two millions, and in subsequent years other large sums came into the Home Treasury. As Sovereigns of India, the Court of Directors ought not to enter into competition with the merchants of this country. The Company obtained large profits on the bullion paid into their Treasury, the profit on the rupee being full five per cent. with interest. Though justified under the strict letter of the law, the Directors ought not to continue the Agency. By the sale and purchase of bills, the Agency inflicted injury to the commerce of Great Britain and India. He had endeavoured to shew that the British merchant, the manufacturer, the producer, and the consumer were alike injured by the continuance of the Agency. After adverting again to the losses that had been occasioned by the Agency, the Hon. Proprietor concluded by moving the following resolution :-"That it is expedient to discontinue the East India Company's Finance Agency at Canton, inasmuch as it deranges the operations of commerce between Great Britain and China, to the great injury and loss of the British merchant, manufacturer, producer, and consumer; while it is not indispensable as a means of enabling the Company to place sufficient funds in this country to meet the territorial payments of India payable in India."

The Chairman said he should oppose the motion. He certainly was, he confessed, a little surprised to hear in that Court gentlemen rising and advocating the interests of the trader, the agent, and the manufacturer-in fact, every interest but that of the East India Company. The question was of primary importance, as affecting the character and stability of the Company, and the interests of the East India Proprietors. The whole of the dividend just made depended upon the realization of their remittances. He would not dispute the right of any Honourable Proprietor to bring forward that or any question relative to the conduct of the Directors for discussion in that Court; but, in the present case, he very much doubted whether that right had been justly or discreetly exercised. All questions relative to the rates of exchange involved points of very considerable delicacy as well as difficulty, and affected complicated and numerous interests, and ought, therefore, as far as possible, to be left in the hands of the executive body. It was the desire of the Directors that the Company's remittances should be made in a way the least likely to interfere with the operations of commerce. The