The Press. — London, England, 1858-10-09 00:00:00

972 " faithfully represent the general opinion of the " country," the Right Hon. Baronet goes on to state his deliberate conviction that, although " it may not always be the faithful exponent of " the opinions of particular individuals, or even " of particular districts" (which, by the way, it never can be or ought to be), the House of Com mons " is now, on all great questions, all impor " tant subjects, a very faithful exponent of the " general sentiments of the country." If this be so, it would seem to follow, according to the logic of the Right Hon. Baronet, that no change in our representative system is required. For, what would you have more ? A " very faithful" representation of the general sentiments of the country, and that on all great questions, on all important subjects, is, with him, surely the summum bonum of any representative system whatsoever. Is it unfair to infer from the broad assertion of the Right Hon. Baronet, that the Ministry of which he was a member never had any serious intention of proposing any change in it? This inference is not a little strengthened by the tone in which the late CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rates those who have announced their intention to propose such a change, for either their rashness or their dis honesty. On the hypothesis that " the circum " stances of the times demand a systematic plan "of Parliamentary Reform "—an hypothesis which he prudently refrains from either adopting or repudiating, and, still more prudently, from explaining—Sir GEORGE challenges the sup posed authors of such a plan to " state distinctly " what is the exact evil they profess to remedy, " and what are the defects in our present system " which they intend to remove." According to his own showing there is no evil to remedy, there are no defects to remove. He himself is not aware of any ; he evidently does not believe that any can be specified. The public in general, and Parliamentary Reformers in particular, have reason, we think, to feel grateful to Sir G. CoRNEWALL LEWIS for the bonhomie and naivete with which he has let them into the secret of the ideas enter tained in esoteric Whig councils on the subject of Parliamentary Reform. Whether it might, sooner or later—the later the better,—become necessary, having regard to " the circumstances of the times," to bring forward "a systematic plan of Parliamentary Reform," is a point on which Sir GEORGE CORNEWALL LEWIS has not troubled himself to bestow much thought. And in this we take him to be a " very faithful exponent " of the mind of his late colleagues. If, from untoward circumstances, a pressure for Parliamentary Reform should arise, they left it to their betters to settle when the time should have arrived for acknow ledging and acting upon the inconvenient necessity. And to them they left it, likewise, to discover or to invent ostensible reasons for the proposed change. All they would have to do would be to take from them the mot dordre, and to speak and vote accordingly. That to a mind imbued with these views—in different to Parliamentary Reform in the abstract, but willing to consider it, if necessary, as a useful party move—the prospect of seeing the question handled by a Conservative Ministry should prove singularly distasteful can astonish no one. It must be extremely provoking. The Whig hand is not so rich in court cards just now that it can conveniently spare such a trump as " Reform in Parliament ;" to see it pass over into the enemy's hand may well try the patience of the most phlegmatic of Whigs. Add to this the annoyance of being called upon to form a definite opinion on a subject which it was hoped would long be suffered to remain in the chiaroscuro of Whig promises and professions, and the probable loss of the chance of making political capital out of it for the Whigs, and the most ill-natured of bystanders must feel that great credit is due to Sir GEORGE CORXEWALL Limns for the perfect good-humour with which he imparted his feelings on the subject to the agriculturists of Radnorshire. We are not ashamed to confess that he has our sympathy ; and that not the less because disappointment and mortification appear to have wrought in him their not unusual effect, a perception of moral truth. " I trust," said the Right Hon. Baronet, as he wound up with an apology for having " contributed his small mite" to a sound con clusion respecting " the coming Reform Bill," THE PRESS, OCTOBER 9, 1858. " that those who propose it will make an " honest and sincere proposal, and that they " will not attempt to accomplish "—he might have added, " as we did in 1832 "—" one thing " under the mask of another. If they do, they "will have the certainty of detection before their " eyes. No political trick in this country ever "passes undetected, and the certain result is a " reaction of public opinion, and a tendency to " advance too rapidly in the direction contrary to " that in which an attempt may have been made "to mislead the public." It is refreshing to see a philosophical mind like that of Sir GEORGE CORNEWALL Lnwis extracting such valuable results from his recent experience ; still more refreshing to see those results so frankly pro mulgated for the common benefit of all. We can venture to assure the Right lion. Baronet that although the Conservatives did not stand in need of the advice which, somewhat unmindful of the parable of the mote and the beam, he has tendered to them, they will doubtless act upon the political truth so sagaciously propounded by him, in the performance of this as of every other part of the task imposed by the Whig ascendancy of the last quarter of a century upon the Adminis tration of Lord DERRY—the task of turning " Liberal" shams into constitutional, and there fore Conservative, realities. ioreign :tab CLolanial Intttligtntt. FRANCE. IMPERIAL MOVEMENTS. The Mcniteur of Wednesday contains the following, dated from the camp at Chalons, Oct. 5 The Emperor this day received the visit of his Imperial Highness Prince Napoleon. After remaining some hours with his Majesty, the Prince left for Paris at five o'clock, accompanied by his aide•de-camp in chief, Colonel Fran. caniere. General Codrington, of the English army, and Colonel Blanc, arrived at the camp this morning, and were invi►ed by the Emperor to spend some days at this Imperial head-quarters. His Majesty continues in perfe it health. PRUSSIA. THE KING'S HEALTH. A letter from Berlin of the 2nd states that the King has become considerably worse, and that, one of his sides having become paralyzed, he could only be removed from one room to another in an armchair. ROME. THE CARDINALATE. On the 27th tilt. the Pope held a Secret Consistory Court in the Palace of the Vatican. No promotions to the cardinalate have been made, but twenty five bishops have been nominate], of whom three are French. INDIA. THE BOMBAY AND CALCUTTA MAILS. The overland mail brings advises and papers from Calcutta to August 21, ana from Bombay to Sept. 7. Our troops are now as actively engaged in all parts of the country as if we had been in the middle of the cold season, instead of at the end of the rains. General Roberts having beaten the enemy on the 14th, and captured all their guns, found himself unable to follow them further, when the chase was taken up by Brigadier Parkes, who had left Nee much in the beginnir.g of August on purpose. A detachment under Colonel Lockhart bad been pushed out by General Michel from Mhow, to co• operate with Parkes, when the fugitives escaped between the two advancing columns by crossing the Chumbul, which then, unfortunately for us, was rising so rapidly in consequence of the deluges of rain falling around, that we were unable to follow them. Brigadier Smith having been unable to induce the garrison of Powrie to surrender unconditionally, and being without heavy ordnance, had to wait for assistance from Gwalior. This arrived on the 19th, under General Napier. Our mortar batteries opened on the 2(lth ; the shelling continued for a couple of days, when the place was found to have been eva cuated. On entering it we found that the rebels bad run away at. the very outset, leaving behind them a few wretched country people, of whom ten were killed and twenty wounded. A party immediately proceeded in pursuit, bu; the fugitives proved too fleet for them. They returned to the camp on the 28th. On the following day the whole body started for Rajghur, a place about forty miles to the south westward, where the rebels were said to he mustering in force. Two strong detachments quitted Jhansi about the middle of August ; the one under Captain Montriou proceeded northward in the direction of Goona, and overtook the enemy, of whom they killed about a dozen; the other under Colonel Lid dell moved westward, and were by last accounts still in the field, without having seen the enemy. Sir Hope Grant's force is still in the neighbourhood of Sultanpore, their movements being greatly impeded by swollen rivers and deluges of rain. A brilliant victory was lately gained by 550 of the Oude police over about 4,000 of the rebels. There has been serious disturbances amongst the recently raised levies in the Punjaub. Three of the Bengal sepoy regiments have now been rearmed. The con spiracy was discovered and crushed in the bud, and therefore there is no immediate danger to us from this particular attempt. But the grave part of the matter is, that it proves we cannot rely upon the Sikhs; it proves we cannot rely upon the loyalty of those on whom we are largely depending to overcome the disloyalty of the sepoys and of our rebellions subjects. In Oude a body of more probably twenty than sixteen thousand rebels are moving in the neigh bourhood of Sultanpore. The force despatched from Fyzabad to watch this strong muster consisted of the Ist Madras Fusiliers, the sth Punjaub Rifles, one troop of horse artillery, and 500 cavalry. Tantia Topie's family of twelve persons has been captured and sent into Gwalior. In the Shahabad district, the rebel hunt which was described in our last summary as having succeeded to military opera tions, continues. One day forty rebels, another day ten, another 100 or more are wounded, taken, or killed. The Englishman says •—" On a perusal of the official intelligence it will be perceived that the rebels are gaining strength, and that the theatre of war is merely shifting from one locality to another; and according to all appearances we fear that the complete pacification of the country and the restora tion of order must be the work of 1859 ; indeed were the Company's authority to continue for the next twelve months, we should despair of peace even during the next year." THE INDIAN POLICY OF LORD CANNING. I THE following despatches have been forwarded to us for publication by the Secretary of State for India : Foreign Department (Secret), AUshabaJ, Juue 17th, 1858. TO THE HONOURABLE THE SECRET COMMITTEE OF THE HONOURABLE THE CURT OF DIRECTORS. Honourable Sirs,-1 have the honour to reply to your despatch No 1,954, of the 19th of April. That despatch condemns in the strongest terms the proclamation which, on the 3rd of March, I directed the Chief Commissioner of Oude to issue from Lucknuw. 2. Although written in the secret committee, the despatch was made public in England three weeks before it resc:ied my hands. It will in a few days be read in every station in Hindostan. 3. Before the despatch was published in England it bad been announced to Parliament by a Minister of the Crown as conveying disapproval, in eve r y sense, of the policy in dicated by the Governor-General's proclamation. Whether this description was an accurate one or not 1 cm not inquire. The telegraph has already carried it over the length and breadth of India. 4. 1 need scarcely tell your honourable committee that the existence of such a despatch, even had it never passed ont of the records of the sec ret department, would be deeply mortifying to me, however confident I might feel me. that your honourable commit tee would, upon reconsidera tion, relieve me of the censure w hich it casts upon Still less necessary is it for me to poin t out that the publication of the document, preceded as it has been by an authoritative declaration of its meaning and spirit, is calculated greatly to increase the difficulties in which the Government of India is placed , not only by weakeniug the authority of the Governor-General, but by encoursgiog resistance and delusive hopes in many classes of the popu lation of Oude. 5. So far as the despatch, and the mode in which it has been dealt with, affect myself personally, I will trouble your honourable committee with very few words. No taunts or sarcasms, come from what quarter they may, will turn me from the path which I believe to be that of my publis duty. I believe that a change in the head of the Government of India at this time, if it took place under circumstances w hich indicated a repudiation on the part of the GOVOTII. meat in England of the policy which has hitherto been pursued towards the rebels of Oade, would seriously retard the pacification of the country. I believe that the policy has been from the beginning merciful without weakness, and indulgent without compromise of the dignity of the Government. I believe that wherever the authority of the Government has been established it has become manifest to the people in Oude and elsewhere, that the indulgence to those who make submission, and who are free from. atrocious crime, will be large. i believe that the issue of the proclamation which has been so severely condemue d . was thoroughly consistent wi th that policy, and that it oi t so viewed by those to whom it is addressed. believe ths earliest policy, if steadily pursued, offers the best and prospect of restoring peace to Onde upon a stable footing._ O. Firm in these convictions 1 will not in down a time m of unexampled dif fi culty, denger, and toil lay of la y own act the high trust which I have the honour to ho