Wuen remarking, Jast week, that the country people in this neighbourhood are generally good tempered and civil, we should have added—except in case of an accident or misunderstanding. For it has been shown, on several occasions, that they are capable of great violence if once a row begins. An instance of this occurred in the case we reported last week, where two midshipmen of the Detached Squadron had their guns taken from them and broken, as a consequence of shooting a pigeon. It is easy to understand how the "trouble" grew. One of the lads foolishly and thought Jessly shoots a -bird which he must have known was private property. The owner comes up and expostulates excitedly, in a language which the Englishmen do not understand; and the culprit offers a dollar as compensation, of course in plain English, which the villagers do not understand. Things go on, until a man lays hands on one of the Jads, who, Middy-like, "gives him one" in the face to make him let go. The first blow in such a case is generally a signal for the row to begin, Gongs were beaten, the villagers turned out, and eventually both guns were taken away, and the Middies made a bolt for the river.—Now they were clearly in the wrong, in the first instance, in shooting the pigeon, and that act caused all the trouble; but, equally clearly, the villagers were in the wrong in resort. ing to violence to obtain redress. If it had been possible to make explanations; if the lads could have said they were sorry, and offered compensation, in terms intelligible to the owner of the bird, the chances are there would have been no trouble, The fact that the guns were sent on board sext morning, shows that what was done wasdoneunder excitement, and that the villagers con. cluded they had done wrong, when they came to their calmer senses, But it shows also that they had means of ascertaining to what ship the foreigners belonged; and that what they ought to have done, therefore, was to go on board and complain, or ask for compensation, as they saw fit, The vessels of the Detached Squadron have gone, so we presume the matter will remain where it it is clearly time that the villagers between this and Woosung were taught that they must not resort to violence in case of misunderstanding with foreigners. There have been two or three cases lately, in which they may certainly have thought they had provocation, but in which they took the Jaw into their own hands a way which ought not to have been tolerated. The Ohinese should be taught that strict and even-handed justice will be dealt out, in cases of collision between natives and foreigners; that if the foreigner is in the wrong be will be punished, and that if the Chinaman is in the wrong his. punishment will be strictly required. But they should also be taught that punishment must be dealt out by the proper authorities, and not administered by lynch law, on the spot. Chinamen sre quite capable of getting up a row among themselves, and quite capable of combining to beat an offender of their cwt clan. But the chances are always, such a case, that some other Chinamen will interfere to prevent matters going 0 permission.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.