contained statements so grossly exaggerated, that in order to meet them Mr. Howe was compelled to remodel his reply. After various delays, the trial at length commenced, in the court of First Instance, on the 28th April, 1856, and in proof of the malevolence by which the bishop was actuated, it may be stated that he demanded 30,000 francs damages, the suppression of the Tatara-taa,[M] and that Mr. Howe should pay all the expenses of the courts, and also for 2000 copies of the judgment for distribution. [M] The native name of the publication issued by Mr. Howe, in refutation of the bishop's catechism; which the latter charged to be libellous. The following is a summary of the proceedings, which excited the liveliest interest in the island, both among the natives and the foreign residents. "My pleadings," writes Mr. Howe, "were so successful that the court declared itself incompetent to judge the case, and fined his lordship 100 francs, and condemned him to all the expenses of that court and those of the preceding chambers. "The judgment was read on the 3rd of May. On the 10th I received notice that the bishop had appealed to the Imperial Tribunal, and demanded that the previous judgment should be rescinded. "This tribunal met on the 16th, when I objected to one of the judges, giving as my reasons that an intimacy existed between him and the bishop, which rendered his sitting as a judge in the case illegal. My objection was sustained by the court. "On the 17th, I objected to his lordship's advocate, as being under the sentence of banishment for political offences, and by which he had forfeited his civil rights. This was also sustained by the court. "On the 26th, the bishop himself appeared to plead his own cause, and he likewise objected to one of the judges, but his objection was overruled. Suffice it to say, that after having made several unsuccessful attempts to prove my defence unsound, the bishop beat a retreat, and said that if I would consent to submit my cause to arbitration he would withdraw the action. I demanded that his cause, to which this is an answer, should be submitted to the same test, and he consented. "The court then retired, and on its return announced its judgment to be, that the decisions of the previous courts were sustained, and that the bishop should pay all the expenses of this appeal, as well as the expenses of the previous courts. By this step his lordship cannot appeal again, either to the administration here, or to the Court of Cassation in France." It is gratifying to learn, that through this long and painful affair, our missionary not only had the countenance of the British and American consuls, and the fervent prayers of the native converts, both in public and private, but that even the French officers, greatly to their honour, openly expressed their sympathy.