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Faawoz.—Important events have occurred in Paris. Down to the close of Monday, it was believed that Government would not interfere with the Reform banquet of the twelfth arrondissement of Paris, further than to send a Commissary of Police to the spot, who would formally protest, but would then withdraw,—preparing a legal process which might form the basis of ally future proceedings that Ministers might choose to take. The arrange- ments of the Banquet Committee were therefore perfected. The Opposi- tion Peers and Deputies, and the superior officers of the National Guard, were to go in procession from the Madeleine to the banqueting-hall in the Champs Elysees. The entire distance was to be lined by National Guards, in uniform, but unarmed.

The Chamber of Deputies, a little before five o'clock on Monday, was nearly empty; a dull debate proceeding on a provincial bank bill. At that time the doors were suddenly thrown open, and 250 Deputies rushed to their seats. The Chamber was presently filled. Reports had flown abroad, and been confirmed at a meeting just risen, that Government had resolved to stop by force the demonstration of the morrow. What had the Minister of the Interior to say? M. Odillon Barrot was the spokesman. He vin- dicated the right of the people to hold the banquet, and challenged the Government to test its legality in a court of law. He disclaimed the re- sponsibility of the agitations which he foresaw. It was for Ministers alone to watch now over the public order.

The Minister of the Interior said that that responsibility did not fall on the Ministers only; it applied to all—

The Government had up to a certain period taken the view expressed by M. Barrot, and had been willing to permit matters to arrive at the point when an evident contravention should supply facts for a case in the court of law. But all had been changed by a manifesto issued by a Committee that morning, and pub- lished in all the Oppositionjournals. That address, in contempt of the law of 1831, called on the National Guards to form part of and a protection to the as- sembly, and appealed to the young men under age, the students of the schools. The law relative to mob assemblages, and that relative to the National Guards, were both openly to be violated at the call of the holders of the banquet.

M. Barrot feared there was designed exaggeration in this statement. The National Guards were not invited to attend with arms.

The Minister demanded if self-constituted Committees were to have the mission of calling out the National Guards in order to maintain order. AL de Courtais—" Will you dare to call out the National Guard? Only try it! "

The sitting closed in great tumult.

A meeting was immediately held at M. Barrot's; and it was resolved to abandon the banquet. Proclamation of this resolution by the Committee, and of the Prefect of Police legally denouncing the banquet, appeared simultaneously in the evening. The Commander-in-chief of the National Guards, General Jacqueminot, issued an order of the day— He had abstained from reminding the National Guards of the limits of the law: they had during seventeen years proved often that they knew them well, and never failed in them. "Few among you, without doubt, are disposed to allow yourselves to be led to a culpable step : but I wish to spare them the error and the regret of showing their small number among the 85,000 National Guards of which your legions are composed. It is, then, in the name of the law that I con- jure you not to disappoint the confidence of the country, which has confided to you the defence of the constitutional royalty and legal order. You will not refuse to listen to the voice of your Commander-in-chief, who has never deceived you. I rely on your prudence and patriotism, as you may always rely upon my probity and devotedness."

Orders were issued to have the rappel beaten on Tuesday morning. During the night military waggons and artillery caissons, escorted by ca- valry, passed incessantly between Fort de Vincennes and the barracks in Paris. Orders were issued for troops to concentrate around the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday, and allow none to pass but Deputies and persons baying tickets. The garrison of Paris was increased to nearly 100,000 men. The populace began to ferment; crowds of great magnitude assem- bled; and the Police notices disappeared from the walls as often as they were put up. Groups surrounded readers who by torchlight dispensed the oracles of the press; which were peaceful and restraining.

On Tuesday, the hubbub commenced with early morn, and grew greater as the day advanced. By ten o'clock, the river-side in front of the Chamber of Deputies was thronged by some 6,000 men, chiefly students in blouses. Many scaled the railings and walls of the garden, and endea- voured to gain the interior of the palace. Menaces and accusations of cowardice were levelled at some of the Deputies. A battalion of the 69th and a squadron of the 6th Dragoons arrived, and promptly cleared the area in front of the Chambers. The mob shouted " A has Guizot, l'homme de Gond!" and sang the Marseillaise. They were borne back upon the Place de la Concorde; and having been joined there by another great co- lumn, they marched in procession, headed by two National Guards armed with sabres, towards the Boulevards. Some of the troops were drawn up in front of the Chambers; others kept moving constantly to and fro the bridge of La Concorde. A Commissary of Police was placed at the foot of the bridge, ready to address the legal notices to the people; and General Perrault awaited on horseback hard by, to take the command on any signs of blood.

The Chamber itself presented a gloomy aspect. Few Deputies were in attendance; the benches of the Opposition were completely vacant. M. Gnizot arrived at an early hour; looking pale, but confident. He was shortly afterwards followed by the Ministers of Finance, Public Instruc- tion, and Commerce. Marshal Bugeaud, who was believed to have ac- cepted the military command of Paris in the event of a revolt, took his seat close to the Ministerial bench. At three o'clock, Messrs. Odillon Barrot, Duvergier de Hauranne, and Gamier Pages, entered. The re- newed discussion on banking continued till five o'clock. M. Barrot then placed on the table the following formal act of impeachment, signed by fifty-three Deputies of the Opposition- " We propose to place the Minister in accusation as guilty-1. Of having be- trayed abroad the honour and the interests of France. 2. Of having falsified the principles of the constitution, violated the guarantees of liberty, and attacked the rights of the people. 3. Of having, by a systematic corruption, attempted to substitute for the free expression of public opinion the calculations of private interest, and thus perverted the representative government 4. Of having trafficked for Ministerial purposes in public offices, as well as in all the preroga- tives and privileges of power. 5. Of having, in the same interest, wasted the finances of the state, and thus compromised the forces and the grandeur of the kingdom. 6. Of having violently despoiled the citizens of a right inherent to every free constitution, and the exercise of which had been guaranteed to them by the charter, by the laws, and by former precedents. 7. Of having, in fine, by a policy overtly counter-revolutionary, placed in question all the conquests of our two revolutions, and thrown the country into a profound agitation." M. Genoude submitted, in his own name, a proposition of accusation against the Minister, conceived in these terms- " Whereas the Minister, by his refusal to present a project of law for electoral reform, has occasioned troubles, I propose to put in accusation the President of the Council and his colleagues."

The Ministers perused the accusation by turns. M. Guizot is said to have smiled, and by one account to have " laughed immoderately" on reading it. The President baulked the Opposition : he abruptly closed the sitting, without reading to the Chamber the papers which had been de- livered. They would be submitted to the approval of the bureaux on Thursday.

Meanwhile, assemblages of immense magnitude were also gathered in other parts of Paris. An attempt was made on the Hotel des Affaires Etrangeres; the windows were smashed, and the gates battered by huge paving-stones. The Municipal Guard, drawn up within a closed court, were already loading their muskets, when the crowd were charged by cavalry, and with much difficulty broken and driven off. Tho soldiers charged with alacrity, but at first inflicted no wounds. The crowd laughed and saluted them, and retired only as far as they were driven, to return again and renew their exclamations. Afterwards, the soldiers were struck severely by stones, and some of the people received sabre-cuts. In the Rue St. Florentin, the crowd overthrew a cart, and commenced a barri- cade; but were broken and dispersed by troops. A similar attempt was made in the Rue Marche St. Honore, under shelter of two overthrown omnibuses; but the troops succeeded in preventing it. All the foot soldiers were provided with pickaxes and pioneer instruments, to overturn the barricades.

With Wednesday morning the same scene of universal movement re- turned. As the day advanced, it became more obvious that the National Guards were acting with unwillingness against the insurgents. The people exhibited a sustained perseverance: they continued the war of words with the troops; addressing them in every variety of incentive to fraternity. They continued to overthrow vehicles, demolish railings for weapons, and erect barricades. Charged and broken, they scampered off, only to return with audacious good-humour and renew their work. There was serious work at the Filles du Cabraires, however. Cannon were fired, slaughter became general, and thirty or forty persons were killed. General Payron- net Tiburce Sebastiani, brother of the Marshal, met with death. At last the initiative was actually taken by the Third Legion of the Na. tional Guard; who drew up at the mairie of the third arrondissement, and declared for Reform. The Municipal Guard prepared to charge them; fixed bayonets, and advanced. The gesture was instantly answered with firmness by the National Guard: bayonets were crossed, and blood was about to flow, when a stockbroker, M. Tetorix, exclaimed to the Guards, " Respect the people! " The effect was electric: the Municipals their arms in token of respect, and marched off.

The insurgent Guards presently brought over the rest of their legion: by noon they numbered 3,000 men. The example was followed by the Nationals of the Second Legion in the Rue Lepelletier. The people were extravagant in their compliments to the Nationals, and frantic in their delight. Cries of " A has Guizot!" and " A bas Dacha- tel I " were checquered by cries of " A bas la systeme! " A guardhouse was attacked by the people; the soldiers overpowered, their muskets taken, fired off, and returned to them, and the prisoners set free. The captured. colours were presented as a trophy to the Third Legion of National Guards. After a time the officers of the Third Legion met, and deputed their Co- lonel to wait on the King and represent their wishes—Reform, and the dismissal of Ministers. The Legion approached the Tuileries, and ulti- mately drew up between the Rue du Dauphin and the Rue du 29 Juillet An " officier d'ordonnance" of General Jacqueminot rode hastily up, con- ferred with the Lieutenant-Colonel of the Legion, and retired instantly. No troops were ordered to the spot; and the Guards and the people fra- ternized without hindrance: yet the two ends of the street were occupied by an immense force. The Fourth Legion stationed its detachments in all directions to preserve order and prevent bloodshed.

These events prepared the public for what was about to happen in the Chamber of Deputies. M. Vavin, a Deputy from Paris, rose and ques- tioned Ministers, in the name of the Chamber, concerning the grave situa- tion. M. Guizot said, that the King had already sent for Count Mold, and empowered him to form a new Ministry. (Immense uproar, and cries of "Bravo!") M. Guizot said, such manifestations would not deter him or his colleagues from doing their duty while yet in office; they were answer-

able for all consequences till their successors were appointed, and would act in all things according to their judgment and conscience. The sitting soon closed.

The news ran over the whole of Paris instantly.

SwirzsaLirro.—The Diet has adjourned, to meet again when the Com- mittee for revision of the Federal Pact ends its labours.

HALT.—Several untoward reports from Rome have reached London this week; but they have come to nothing. One was that the Pope had been

deposed; another, that he was decidedly at issue with his subjects, who

were angrily demanding a constitution. According to the Patric, whigh has intelligence to the 12th instant, the Pope had invited several theolo-

gians, to advise him whether it would be in harmony with the rights of the See to grant a constitution to his subjects. The theologians declared unit- nimonsly in the affirmative.

A panic pervades Lombardy at the scenes that have taken place in

Pavia; particulars of which appeared in our last Postscript.. But similar troubles have broken out at Undino, Treviso, Belluno, and Vicenza. The Universities of Pavia and Padua are domed. In Milan, all amusements public and private are suspended. Prince Pio Falco and the Borromeo family have been ordered out of the country. A Government manifesto has appeared, bidding Italians to remember the fate of the Poles—a more warlike people than they. It seems that the Austrians and the native soldiers at Mantua have come to blows; the latter fraternizing with the people. A Hungarian corporal was slain in one ameute. A letter from Malta, of the 14th, states that the British squadron, which was lying in that port, sailed suddenly on the 12th, partly for the coasts of Naples and Sicily, and partly for the Adriatic. The departure of the squadron was so precipitate that some ships went without completing their repairs.

NI:q.t.—The overland mail brings intelligence from Calcutta to the 9th of January, from Madras to the 14th, and Bombay to the 16th. Lord Dalhousie, the new Governor-General, had touched at Madras, and his ar- rival at Calcutta was hourly expected.

In the Punjanb, Government had issued a proclamation against suttee: the proclamation declares that twenty-three princes—at their head the Ma- harajah of Lahore—have for the last three years cooperated in the suppres- sion of that savage rite. Ragogee Bangria, a robber-chief as much noted in the South as Doon- gtrr Singh in the North, has been captured in a most chivalrous manner by Lieutenant Gell of the Ghaut Light Infantry. Mr. Gell disguised him- self as a Brahmin, traced the freebooter to the celebrated shrine of Pon- derpoor, and captured him in one of the sacred tanks at the finish of his devotional ablutions. Gumsoor continued to be the seat of disturbance.

A resolution passed by the Governor-General in Council, and dated the 31st of December, declares that cotton shall henceforward be exempt from export-duty throughout India. The late export-duty of nine arias per Indian maned of cotton, at the rate of value for some years back, was equal to a tax of from five to eight per cent.

The Court of Directors have consented to the establishment of a conva- lescent hospital in the Neilgherry mountains for a portion of the Euro- pean troops serving in the Madras Presidency. The measure is conceded as a grace to the close of the Marquis of Tweeddale's administration.

Cernea.—The news from China comes down to the 30th of December. The leading topic of the papers is the murder of six English gentlemen, which has occurred at Hwang-chu-kee, a village near Canton.

On Tuesday the 5th of December, Messrs M'Carte, Balkwill, Brown, Ratter, Small, and Bellamy, embarked from Canton in a hong-boat, intending to sail a few miles up the river, land for a walk, and return for dinner. The deposition of the master of the boat supplies a narrative of the proceedings of the Englishmen up to the point of their landing. "About one o'clock on the 5th of December 1847, a coolie belonging to the firm of Blenkin, Rawson, and Co. came and hired the hong-boat, of which I, Chow. a-pow, am chief boatman. Six foreigners about that time got into my boat, and we proceeded Westward. About three o'clock we arrived at the landing-place of the ferry at the village of Wang-chukka, (in Man- darin Hwang-chu-kee,) where the foreigners immediately went on shore. We asked them if we should follow them or not. They said that it was not neces sary, and ordered us to remain and wait for them. The place where we anchored is about a hundred paces from the village. We saw the foreigners pass through a a stone archway, and enter into the village, when they were concealed from us by the dwellings. After losing sight of them, we remained waiting in the boat during the space of one hour; when we heard the sound of gongs in the village. There was a small boat anchored near us, in which there were an old man and a young man. The youngest of these had a short time previously gone into the village to bay vegetables. On his return, he informed the old man that the gongs were sounded because the villagers were pursuing and beating the foreigners. The old man asked us what kind of people we had brought there. On our in- forming him, he advised us to make off with all speed, otherwise the villagers would immediately come and seize us with the intention of killing us. Within a quarter of an hour after he had said this, the villagers advanced towards us, and commenced throwing stones at us. We therefore immediately went to the oppo- site side of the river. Our intention was to wait there till the foreigners came to the landing-place, when we would pat across the boat to receive them. We waited till about seven or eight o'clock, at which time we again heard the sound- ing of gongs in the village. They sounded as if there was something extraor- dinary going on, not in the common manner. All at once we perceived two small covered boats, with about seven or eight people in each, advancing hastily to- wards us; when they came up to us they fastened their boat-hooks on our boat, saying at the same time, This is the boat which brought the foreigners.' We knocked their boat-hooks off, and fled with the tide. The villagers pursued us to the entrance of the Le-shwuy, when they turned back. After this we went to a place of the name of Low-kong, where we anchored ; and about the time necessary to-eat a meal, day broke. There were several fishing-boats at anchor at the same place. As it was now daylight, we durst not return to Canton with our boat; but I hired a small boat in order to return to the hongs (factories) to report the news. I arrived at Canton about twelve o'clock on the 6th, and went to the comprador of Blenkin, Rawson, and Co., and gave him information of the affair. He said that his master was not at home, and took me to the houses of Turner and Co., and Birley; at both of which places they were said to be out. The comprador then took me to the Consul. Among the six foreigners there was one named Small, who carried with him one pair of double-barrelled pocket-pistols, and one gentle- man, tea-inspector of Birley, carried one pair of single-barrelled pocket-pistols. We saw them load them. We did not see that the other gentlemen had any fire-arms. According to our observations, none of the six foreigners were by any means intoxicated."

From this point occasional glimpses only are had of what occurred to the Eng- lishmen up to the time of their death. A female native resident at Keaou-peaou was at work in the fields in the afternoon of the 5th. " She saw the six foreign- ers first at some distance in shore of Hwang-clia-kee; where a few of the working people shouted Fankwei (foreign devil,) and threw mud at them; of which they took no notice. Shortly afterwards these were joined by others; at all events, a larger party, perhaps twenty in number, came on in pursuit of them, shouting as before, and assailing them with stones, and farming implements, hoes and the like. The foreigners held up their hands, and appeared to deprecate the violence of their pursuers, who had now reached them, and were striking at them; while their number increased every moment, as the people in the adjoining fields flocked to take part in the attack. One of the foreigners then fired, and hit a Chinese, who fell. The gong was struck, and a multitude assembled; who fought furiously with the English, and overpowered two of them, whom they continued to strike after they were down. The other four, who seemed much frightened, and were covered with wounds, inflicted by pikes, poles, knives, and stones, after having in vain endeavoured to appease the people by the offer of dollars, fled, and the woman saw no more."

A young man, a labourer, MIS coming from Ta-le-poo, a place some eight or ten miles from the scene of the massacre, upon the 5th instant. " He saw four fo- reigners running in or near the village of Lotaum, pursued by a number of people: two Chinese, carrying grass, met them and threw stones at them without effect. and then, as the way was narrow, spread out their arms and attempted to ball their passage: they were immediately shot by the foreigners, who continued their flight. He then proceeded to Hwang-chu-kee; where about 1,000 persons were assembled round something which he did not see; but he was told that they had been beating the Fankwei, and knew that the two bodies were there. He went on to Canton, where he arrived at about six p. In., and remained till Tuesday morning; when, as he was on his way home at an early hour, he overtook a small vessel carrying!the six bodies to San-nga-kow, where they were to be thrown into the water. This was done, as he afterwards heard, with stones tied to them to prevent their floating. On the capture of the four Englishmen at Hang-keaoti, they were all brought back to Hwang-clm-kee the same night. In the two who had fallen first life was not yet extinct. On Tuesday morning, all were still alive; and the elderly people of the village advised that they should be sent back to Canton; but this was opposed by the rest, on account of the vengeance which they feared would be taken. It was accordingly decided that they should die: but all shrank back from the task of putting them to death, until one man, not above twenty-three or twenty-four years of age, said that if they were all afraid he would do it himself; and thereupon killed them with a heavy knife or metal weapon, such as is used to chop wood." Early on Monday morning, the British Consul, Mr. Macgregor, applied to the district magistrates for the release of the party supposed to be held captive in the villages. He also addressed Keying, enclosing a copy of his application to the magistrates. An answer was received from Keying in the course of the afternoon, stating that before receiving the Consul's letter he had heard of the circumstance, and had sent orders to the magistrates to search for the foreigners, and set them at liberty. At noon, about thirty Englishmen put themselves under the guidance of Dr. Marjoribanks, and left the factories in two boats, on a search for their friends. They explored several creeks in the neighbourhood of Hwang-chu-kee, but with- out gaining any information. In the afternoon, Dr. Marjoribankefound the Nan- has magistrate on board a boat at anchor about a quarter of a mile below Hwang- chu-kee, evidently afraid to go further. Dr. Marjoribanks remonstrated with him on his apathy, and offered to accompany him to the village, lest any of the prison- ers should require surgical aid. fhis offer was declined. Another party was afterwards organized, more numerous and well armed, with the intention of start- ing at dawn on Tuesday. The Consul, however, interposed, and published a cir- cular discountenancing the project; on which it was relinquished. The Chinese authorities, by a chop dated the 7th (Tuesday), offered 2,400 dollars for the party if alive, and 200 dollars for each body if dead. On Wednesday, the Chief Criminal Judge, aware of the murders, issued an edict calling upon the well-disposed to give up the guilty and point out where the bodies were hidden. They were brought to the English factory on Thursday and Friday. Most were much disfigured by wounds: Mr. Brown had been killed by a gunshot wound, and had besides a spear wound in the abdomen; Messrs. Balkwill and Small showed marks of the rattan.

Sir John Davis came to Canton on Sunday the 12th, having before communi- cated with Keying. Sir John intimated to the residents that he would willingly receive communications on the subject from them. The most influential met immediately, and prepared a memorial which they presented to him, asking for more efficient protection. From the 12th to the 20th was spent in negotiation. On the 20th, the Chinese officials intimated that four of the murderers would be executed; the execution of sentence to take place in the presence of British officers commissioned to witness them, on the scene of the crimes. On the morning of the 21st, the Company's steamer Pluto carried up Mr. Johnston, Mr. Vice-Consul Flmalie, and Mr. Mea- dows, interpreter to the Consulate, to witness the execution. They were accom- panied with a guard of three officers and thirty men of the Ninety-fifth Regiment. A gentleman who was present has drawn up a graphic account of the transac- tion. He arrived at the place of execution in the village of Hwang-chn kee at six in the morning. "It is a grass-plot of about two acres in size, nearly square, having the river in the front, paddy ground on both sides, and an ancestral hall at the back. This ancestral ball faces the river; the village of Hwang-chu-kee lies inland beyond the hall, almost concealed, as is usual with the villages of this- neighbourhood, by fine old trees, but apparently about 300 yards from the river; a large number of Mandarin boats were moored in two lines, reaching from the two rows of trees at the sides of the plot of ground to a considerable distance into- the river. On these and on the plot of ground were collected a numerous body of Mandarins, and their retinues, soldiers, police, executioners, &c., in their official dresses. On my approach, the soldiers threw themselves hastily into three lines,. two under the side rows of trees and one across the plot of ground before the hall; thus forming, with the river front, an open square enclosing groups of the other official people. At a distance of one hundred yards from this square, small bo- dies of Chinese soldiers were picketed, on all the paths leading to the plot; doubt- less for the purpose of preventing the near approach of the country-people, as du- ring the whole course of the proceedings I neither observed any of them nor any other non-official Chinese present. " After waiting for about an hoar, till a little after seven o'clock, the war- steamer Pluto became visible through the thick fog, steaming slowly against a strong tide, with the lead going on both sides, and her commander, Captain Airey,. standing on the larboard paddle-box. It was, under all the circumstances, a sight to make an Englishman feel a little proud, to see how steadily and skilfully she was, under his directions, brought through a narrow passage, between a ridge of sunken rocks, just below the place of execution. She anchored at the end or the two lines of Mandarins' vessels, almost closing up the space between them. Ia about five minutes after the anchor dropped, two boats put off from her, filled with the soldiers; followed by a third, containing the Honourable Mr. Johnston, Mr. Vice-Consul Elmslie, and Mr. Meadows, interpreter to the Consulate. Our soldiers, in two divisions, and a party of the Pluto's seamen, with fixed bayonets and drawn cutlasses, formed along the bank of the river. About two minutes afterwards the signal for the execution was given by one of the Mandarins, with whom Mr. Johnston and his party were :trailing, calling out the word pan ' (proceed,) which was passed by the subordinates to the opposite line of vessels,, one of which contained the prisoners, and within five yards of which I was stand- ing on the bank. The first of the criminals that was brought out seemed to be about twenttyq years of age, decently dressed, tall for a Chinaman, and strongly made. lie had good features, but was ghastly pale; he was gagged, and had his hands tied together behind his back, and his feet were fettered in the Chinese manner. He had a piece of wood, about two feet in length, with a slip of paper at the head of it, sticking down between his clothes and his back. This piece of wood is. called cha-peaou; and the criminal's name, with a description of his crime, &c. is written on the paper attached to it. He passed from the boat to the shore along some planking, over which he was supported by a Chinese policeman on each side. There was another policeman behind him pushing him roughly for- wards. The eyes of this criminal were rolling about in a fearful manner, as he turned them from the foreign soldiers to the seamen between whom he passed from the boat to the field. He was ran out about twenty yards from the river, into the square, till about ten yards from the spot where I was standing, with a clear space between; so that I was able to see very plainly the whole of the pro- ceedings. When the policeman had led him to that distance, they threw him down on the ground; and in consequence of his hands being secured behind his back he fell quite forward on his face. The executioner, who on his being brought out came running from where the Mandarins were stationed, with his naked sword in his hand and his sleeves tucked up to the elbows, was by this time at him; and after pulling out the cha-peaou from his back, raised him up into a kneeling ..s•ure. He then took hold of the criminal's tail, which had been previously jelled up into a knot, with the left hand ; and, by the help of this hold, and by pressing the right foot on the criminal's hands, or on the small of his back, brought his Lead and neck into the requisite position, sticking almost straight out and ho- rizoatal from the trunk, but slightly bent down. He then, retaining his hold of the tail with the left hand, brought his sword down in the right hand, so as almost to touch the criminal's neck, which I suppose he did in order, as it were, to mark the exact place at which to strike. He then raised the sword quickly up, and at one blow severed the head from the body, only leaving it attached by a small piece of skin, which he afterwards separated by a tug. The policeman now took the trunk and put it into a Chinese coffin, which some of the other policemen had brought forward while the beheading was going on. This criminal being a stout-bodied man, the policemen were obliged to force his body into the coffin by stamping it in with their feet; which, from the cool way in which they did it, was to me the most disgusting sight I witnessed during the morning. " The second and third criminals, who were brought out close behind the first man, seemed to be about fifty years of age, and meagre-looking people. They were gagged and fastened in every way like the first man, and were as roughly handled. The executioners, however, cat their heads completely off at one blow. They were then put into the coffins, first the trunks and afterwards the heads. The fourth was carried out from the boat into the square, by means of a piece of matting slung between two poles. He sat huddled i together, with his head resting on his breast; and being tumbled out of the conveyance such a manner that when the executioner raised him up the man's back was turned towards me, I did not see his face so as to judge of his age. I remarked, however, that he was dressed in very ragged clothes. The executioner had a good deal of trouble to get this man's head put in the proper position; and seemed, in consequence of baying to handle him so mach, to be rather unnerved, for in taking his aim with the sword in the manner described above, I saw that his hand trembled very much; notwithstanding this, however, he severed the head from the body at one blow.

"The circumstance of the executioner's being punishable if he strike more than one blow, may account in part for his anxiety and nervousness. When all the four criminals were beheaded and the trunks and heads put in the coffins, the Chinese policemen carried them into a small boat.

"From the time of taking the criminals from the large vessel until their bodies were carried to the small boat, the whole period did not, I think, exceed eight minutes. I have since ascertained that the bodies were buried at the place out- aide,of the Eastern gate of Canton, named Lwan Tsangkang." Eleven inure of the Chinese were still under trial in the Native courts.

The sequel of the narrative is extraordinary. It is the general belief that the persons executed were "substitutes" for the real criminals. The facts that the criminals were gagged, that every path was closed by which the Natives could approach the execution, and above all, that the men slain were not interred in the burial-ground of the villagers but in that of the " Strangers," are thought to confirm this impression most strongly. A case of late occurrence is mentioned in which a murderer at Hong-kong, on receiving sentence of death, inquired if he might provide a substitute. There is a rumour also, that on the demand being made by Keying for four lives, the men who were executed offered to suffer, provided certain honours were conferred on their families.

The general impression is that Keying had acted deceitfully. Sir John Davis left the factories on the 22d; and before he did so he declared to one of the residents, that Keying bad been allowed a delay till the 20th of the next month to satisfy Sir John that he possessed the means of controlling the villagers. By that date the navalforce would have been considerably strengthened, vessels being expected from Singapore and other places.

At Canton, of course, trade had suffered from these interruptions.