The Press. — London, England, 1854-01-21 00:00:00

u L~ EXTINCTION OF INFANTICIDE IN INDIA. THE order of the Governor-General abolishing in fanticide throughout India was read at a grand gathering of the natives held at Umritsir on the 14th of November last. In a letter f: om the spot the following details of this interesting solemnity are given : " Umritsir, Nov. 15, 1553. " The Umritsir meeting was most splendid. Every civilian in the Punjaub was there. The street of the camp was nearly a quarter of a mile long, and composed entirely of civilians' double-polled tents. It was calculated that more than 20,000 natives, independent of the usual inhabi tants, were assembled at the Holy City to listen to the Governor-General's order on the subject of infanticide. On Monday, the 14th of November, all were invited to come to the durbar at eleven o'clock. A small apartment with a fine bamboo screen was provided for the few ladies who were present, that they might witness the scene. It was most magnificent.. There were 3,000 natives inside the grand shemeana-300 were of sufficient rank to have chairs allowed them, which were placed in a semicircle at the end of the tent: at the end of this semicircle stood all the as sembled civilians. All the old Sikh generals and rulers were there, and among them many hill chiefs who had never before been tempted out of their native mountains. All those who were not entitled to chairs were seated on the ground, and presented one large compact mass .of human heads. " There was the most profound silence in this brilliant assembly when Mr. Edmunstone, on whom devolved the duty of opening and explaining the object of this important meeting, rose to speak. He made an excellent Hiudostanee a tdreas, denouncing female infanticide as barbarous, cruel, aid unholy ; and so powerfully did that address influence his hearers, that every native present signed a solemn agreement on oath never again to allow female infanticide within the circle of his acquaintance without denouncing the perpetrators. " Hitherto the hill chiefs, and many of the Sikh tribes, have adopted the cruel practice of murdering their female children, rather than bear the great expense of their foolish marriage ceremonies. Government has now limited those e Tenses to certain sums proportioned to the rank of the parents, which just now is viewed as a blessing to all parties; and all the chiefs expressed their satisfaction and delight at the new law. "You cannot imagine a more splendid scene of Oriental magnificence than the breaking up and separation of this vast assemblage, the chiefs mounted on their splendid ele phants, and attended by their numerous followers. "In the evening the whole city, together with the far famed holy tank of Umiitair, was splendidly illuminated. " At sunset we all assembled in the camp-street, and formed so large a party that twelve elephants were borrowed from the chiefs for our accommodation : they all stood ready, in a line, laden with scarlet and gold, their heads and trunks painted with different devices. The scene in every direction was strange and interesting. The city was as light as day, and was literally crammed with people. As our twelve elephants, with their glittering trappings, fol lowed each other' in stately procession, it was curious to look back upon the long narrow streets and the tall and irregular houses, blazing with rows of lamps in long lines, until almost lost in the distance. "At the entrance of the holy tank the crowd was so dense that they looked like one solid mass. We were con ducted to a position from which we could see the whole square, and where carpets and seats were prepared for us. I cannot attempt to describe the magnificent spectacle that met us there. The golden temple, the steps round the tank, the very water itself seemed on fire ; around the edge were packed 20,000 people, and the murmur of their voices came up like the roar of the sea in a storm. " At the signal of a cannon, fireworks broke out on every side ; fountains of fire fell from the roofs and rose from boats in the middle of the tank, rockets pierced the air and fell again in showers, and fire balloons in great numbers had the appearance of so many new stars. " This period was chosen for the meeting because it is a great Hindoo festival, which always collects crowds at Uniritair, being connected with the worship of fire." THE FUSION. THE Duchess of Orleans has definitively refused to join in the fusion between the elder and younger branches of the Bourbon race. This decision is communicated in a letter, of which the following is a translation, addressed to the Duc de Nemours, and dated Eisenach, Dec. 10, 1853: " My Royal and Dear Brother-in-Law.—l have received your last despatch, by which you engage me again to enter frankly into the ' fusion ' which you have concluded by your visit at Frohadorf. " If I enter it at all I should surely enter it frankly, and I would by the principle of peace, which is the basis of the Christian religion, agree at once with the proposition which you make me this time with so much energy ; but the same motives which have hindered my consent when that question was debated in presence of our august and very dear mother at Claremont must again engage me to persist in my reflections, and thus to retard my entry, or rather that of my sons, into this union. " I will again and concisely explain myself. " I well know that you, my dear brother-in-law, as well as others, will tax me with obstinacy. If I and the family peace were the only questions here I should at once con sent: I have not sown discord, and it would thence be easy to me to co-operate to the peace. But here the question is that of the sacred rights of my sons : they are orphans, they have oaly myself for their maintenance, and in de fending their rights as much as possible I defend in them the principle of elective royalty, which took its birth in the revolution of 1830—a principle which was the guide of Ferdinand, my poor husband, whose memory will always be dear to me, and by the maintenance of which he knew, THE PRESS. as well as by his natural affability, how to conciliate the opi- nions of the great majority of Frenchmen. " To enter into this union—into this political pad—is nothing else but an acknowledgment, full and entire, of LEGITIMACY ; and whatever respect I may individually, and even by my birth, profess for that principle, it is impos sible that, consistently with myself, I can forget the cir cumstances under the influence of which your father be- Cams King, and under which, also, I, a woman, ventured, in braving the dangers of a momentary surereitalion, to present myself in the midst of the Chamber of Deputies, to claim there the crown which I dreamt of for my son, and—what do I say?—which I dream of still for him. Men—people—may change ; impenetrable Providence shows, after the time of trial, its will and eternal justice at the day marked in advance on its golden pages. I have faith in it : it will repair the wrongs which I have sus tained—which we have sustained without any faults of ours, de. (Signed) " HELENE Duchess d'OuLEANs." THE FRENCH ARMY. THE following authentic summary of the force dis posable for active service which the French military system presents at the opening of the year is given by the semi-official Pays : " The French army, as at present organised, is composed in the following manner :—For the first or direct part, of a general staff, a staff corps, and a private staff for the artil lery and engineers ; for the second or administrating part, of a corps of superintendence, a medical corps, a corps called that of the administrative services, comprising three sections, and of a corps of troops of administration ; for the third or fighting part, of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineers. Not comprised in these great divisions, we place the special troops charged with the police of the interior in time of peace, and with the police of the armies in time of war, or the gendarmerie, and the military establishments necessary for the renewal of the personnel and of the materiel. These great divisions being stated, let us analyse their various elements separately, commencing by the third and most important section, that of the effective force of the army. The French infantry is composed of 100 regiments of three battalions each, twenty battalions of foot chasseurs, three regiments of Zouaves, and two of the foreign legion with three batta lions, three battalions of native sharpshooters, three of African light infantry, and, lastly, some companies of veterans and of discipline. The 100 regiments of the line can easily give immediately two battalions of 1,000 men each, and have also the officers of a third battalion, into which can be placed 100,000 or 120,000 men of the classes which have not yet terminated the time of service due by them to their country. The nine battalions of Zouaves, the six of the foreign legion, the six of the sharpshooters and of the light infantry, are on a war footing, and can furnish from 20,0!)0 to 26,000 men, ready at once to enter on a campaign. Of the twenty battalions of the foot chasseurs, ten are organised, and ten are in course of organisation, or rather, as the ten already organised are being doubled to form the twenty lately decreed, it may be said that all are in the conrse oforganisation. The elements being ready at hand, that organisation may be effected promptly, and in a few months. The infantry is warranted to reckon among its ranks twenty fine battalions of chas seurs, of 1,200 each, able to give war battalions of 1,000 men. It is thus clear that the force of the French infantry, ready to enter on a campaign, whilst leaving good stalls of regiments at their depots in France, may be estimated at 240 war battalions, or 240,11(X) men. The cavalry is corn posed of twelve reserve regiments, twenty of cavalry of the line, twenty of light cavalry, all with five squadrons, and eight regiments of light cavalry (four of African chasseurs, three of Spahis, and one of Guides), with six squadrons. The mounted troops give consequently 300 squadrons. Each of the fifty-two regiments, with five squadrons, may immediately furnish four war squadrons of 130 homes each, and the eight regiments of six squadrons, 700 horses each, Thus the force of the cavalry ready to enter on a campaign may be estimated at from 32,000 to :15,000 sabres ; and there remain, to keep up the regiments, the fifth squadrons of good cadres, and of young horses. In addition, our establishments for supplying horses and the breeders throughout the country have a sufficiently great number of horses, the improvement of which has been most marked of late years, thanks to the enlightened encouragement given by the Government to that branch of industry. The artillery is composed of fourteen regiments of sixteen batteries, and, in addition, one regiment of pore tonniers of twelve companies, thirteen companies of military workmen, four squadrons of flying artillery, and five companies of veteran artillerymen. It is known that each reserve, or campaign battery, is composed of six pieces of eight or twelve, two of which are howitzers. Each battery has an effective force of from 200 to 220 men and 100 horses. Each regiment can furnish in men and materiel ten batteries on a war footing. The force, there- fore, of the artillery ready for battle is 360 guns, and from 28,000 to 30,000 men, including the flying train. The engineers form three regiments with two battalions each, or 0,00 men. The first great division of the army, that which we have called the directing part, is composed of seven marshals of France, eighty generals of division, 160 generals of brigade, and ball officers of the staff, from the rank of colonel to that of lieutenant. The total force of the army at present able to enter at once on a campaign is consequently nearly 800,0(X) men and 60,000 horses. Our nation has besides all the elements to present in line, in a very short time, an army composed of six corps d'arrcee, with four divisions of infantry, a division of cavalry, eight batteries, and a light brigade being attached to each corps d'armee. There are in the staffs, in the corps of superin tendence, in the officers of administration, in the troops of administration, and in the 20,000 men of whom the corps of gendarmery is composed, a sufficient force to supply every want and every service of such an army." SATURDAY, THE AMERICAN POST-OFFICE SYSTEM.' Accournam to the annual report of the American Post. master• General, recently issued, there are in the United States 22,688 post•offices. The aggregate length of the mail routes is above 200,000 miles. During the year the mails are conveyed o , e , 13,000,000 miles on railways, the mileage of which is and over nearly 7,000,000 miles in steam-boats, the 0 01;,, age of which is 40. In California the mails traverse annually nearly 600,000 miles, the cost of which iv 30,0(X)!. The American Postmaster-General complains t o t h e Government of a want of sufficient power over ra il way companies in fixing the price for conveying mails, and th e hours of arrival and departure. He is averse to the referee system, which he says in England has acted unfavourably to the Government there. The local mail service in California is marked by tiro peculiarities—viz., very high prices and great difficulty in giving the mail facilities required. The cost of the mail service in California greatly exceeds its receipts. Th e transport of mails across the Isthmus of Panama alone costa the American Government ltd. for every pound weight of mailable matter. The report recommends that au Assistant Postmaster. General should be appointed for the supervision of the American mail service in the Pacific, and that a dead-letter office should be established in California. The annual postal expenditure in the United States is about I ,500,0001.; the income is about 1,100,000/. The cost of the American Ocean Steam-ship lines is about 400,000/. a year, and the revenue derived from them about 180,0001. a year. The number of letters conveyed between the United States and Europe during the last year by the British and American mail steamers was 4,600,000. Th e number of newspapers, 1,380,0(X). The Postmaster•Geueral complains of the partiality of the British Government for the Cunard line of steamers. He states that his proposition for a reduction of the exorbi tant rates of postage on pamphlets and magazines between the United States and Great Britain is regarded un• favourably, although not absolutely declined, by the Englidi Government. He complains that while the British Government has been paying the United States Od. an ounce fur transit of Canadian mails through the United States territory, it has been charging Is. an ounce for transit of the American mails for France through England. The American postal convention with France is in pro. gress. America is insisting on the half-ounce scale being adopted, and for prepaid and unpaid letters to be sub. jected to one uniform rate. The pending postal conven• tion between the United States and Belgium is only awaiting the reduction of the British transit rate. The American postal convention with Prussia operates favour ably ; a few of the southern German States only have not yet acceded to its terms. The Postmaster• General recommends that the American Government should pay a given sum for every mail to England, and that the English Government should pay a similar sum for every mail to the United States, without regard to the nationality of the steamers, so long as they were American or British ; that the Atlantic mail voyage' should be limited to a given number per week, and that the strife between Cunard and Collins should be put an end to. THE CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT IN PIEDMONT. — There are in Piedmont 6 archbishops, 34 bishops, 312 beneficed canons, 59 collegiate churches, 741 collegiate canons, and 7,000 priests. These possess property calculated at about 350,000,000 f., and de rive an income of about 12,000,000 f., independent of nearly 1,000,0001. a year which is paid by the State in the form of stipendiary assistance. While among these bishops there are some receiving 4,0001. (or 100,000 f.) a year, in the 4,247 parishes into which the Sardinian States are divided, 3,386 parish priests, notwithstanding the stipendiary allowance from the Government, are in extreme poverty-41,540 of these derive an average income from the local or parish church property of 473 f., which, with an average assistance from the State, makes only about 835 f. (about 331. or 341.) a year. Such being the state of the regular Church, there are besides 31 orders of monks, with 347 convents ; 23 orders of nuns, With 141 convents—that is, 54 orders, with 418 convents. Of these convents 318 have each an average income of about 15,000 f. a year. The remaining 170 are mainly dependent on mendicancy. The aggregate known property of these orders is calculated at 119,350,000 f., and is supposed to yield them . au aggregate income of upwards of 4,500,000 f. But, in dependent of such ascertainable property, they are supposed to have much more in the form of bonds payable to bearer, and many invested in the names of individual members. The total number of monks is 0,000, 2,500 being of mendicant orders. The total number of nuns is 2,500. THE HALF OF A 'WOMAN'S BODY was taken out of the Seine near Villeneuve-la-Garenne last week. The portion found consists of the back, stomach, sea lower limbs. The division of the body appears to have been effected with neatness and dexterity. It is supposed that the death must have been there' suit of a crime, and that the body was thus map's' ted to prevent the possibility of identification. Ac cording to professional witnesses the body must bill .. been three or four months in the water. lift. `.