The Press. — London, England, 1854-07-29 00:00:00

698 • With respect to the partial quotations made I by Admiral BERKELEY from private letters of Sir CHARLES, our Correspondent is strongly of opinion that the commander in the Baltic has not been treated fairly by Admiral BERK* LEY. Our Correspondent states that Sir CHARLES NAPIER did say, and thinks, that Cronstadt is unassailable by ship* ; but Sir CHARLES also said that it could be attacked with boats of light draught of water, and guns of long range. If such, as our Correspondent states, be the case, it materially alters the complexion of the letter quoted by Admiral BERKELEY. Our Correspondent further calla attention to the circumstance that four months ago, or thereabouts, Mr . Scorr Resent offered to turn out six boats of the descrip tion indicated above in three months from the date of his offer. That offer was refused, and yet the Admiralty have sent Mr. Scorr Rus- SELL to purchase from Prus3ia two boats of the very same description, built by Mr. Rue- SELL himself. Mr. RUSSELL returned, says our Correspondent, cn the 25th inst., having suc ceeded in hia mission of purchasing the boats he had built. In justice to an absent Admiral we have thought it right that these facts, coming from a well-informed Correspondent, should be brought under public notice. WANTS OF THE PUBLIC.-MONTAGUE HOUSE. THE circumstances relating to the renewed 'ntague-house are calculated to curiosity. It is notorious that for , past more room has been required Iblic offices, and during Lord DERBY'S when the Duke of BUCCLEUCH renewal of the lease of Montague -Ireasury, on public grounds, de accede to his Grace's request. So remained until Lord DERBY left it appears that the lease has since , wed, and the public interest has been sacrificed to the convenience person. For the D uke of BUCCLECCII high personal respect, but even Mr. admits that the matter requires ; and he has promised to produce )use of Commons all the papers ) the subject. It is singular that )nt Chancellor of the Exchequer have been better acquainted with )umstances of the case. It would things of importance. may be the Coalition of which its plastic left in total ignorance. The public Ibt, desire to have the whole matter dained, and the Government should readily afford the required explana - Duke of BUCCLEUCH has affOtded conscientious support. S OF THE MINISTERIAL POLICY IN SCINDE. mail from India has brought us ier news some startling intelligence le. It is of such a nature that we :sitate to publish it did it not come the authority of the Friend of India, from the Seindian—(the one being the Lord DALHOUSIE, the other that of mciissioner of the Province)—and did alga tally completely with the informa wired from private sources as to the state of affairs in that province. The India states : Scindian publish?s an article full of mysterious - the impolicy of allowing the ex Ameere to re ' own country. He believes they are becoming of disaffection, and says, from the course of now progressing, the general determination Feringhees in this country would appear to be knife. project of allowing the ex-Ameers to and reside in Scinde while the itself was not to be restored to them TuE circumst lease of Mot excite some ci a long time pc for our public Government, applied for a house, the Ti dined to acc the matter r power, but it been renewer apparently 134 of one perso we feel high GLADSTONE a explanation ; to the Hout relating to the present should not 1 the circums seem that done by ti financier is 1 will, no doul frankly expl the more rei tions as the to it his con RESULT A RECENT I among oche from Sein(h should hesi to us on th( quoting fro • ,‘ organ of L the COMIlli • it not also ' tion derive present Ma Friend of I The Scind hints as to ti sum to their the centres o events as no against the F' war to the kn The pt.( return at country it! THE PRESS was, on a former occasion when mooted, so fully dealt with by the late Sir CHARLES NAPIER, that one would have thought it would have been set at rest for ever. The argument is given at pp. 306-7 of Sit WILLIAM NAPIER'S " Administration of Beiude," and must be deemed conelusite ; but since Lord DAL ROUsIeIi quarrel with Sir CHARLES NAPIER every opportunity appears to have been taken of reveling the policy of Sir CHARLES. And among other alterations the Ameers have been allowed to return and settle in Scinde. Had Lord DALHOUSIE completed the business by restoring their thrones and country to them as well, the act would at least have had the merit of consistency, if it had had no other merit. But this was too much fGr Lord DALHOUSIE to accord, so he did the work by halves, and the threatened " wa r to the knife is the result. To look for any other consequence would have never entered the brain of any reasonable man; but his Lordship is not a reasonable man when dealing with the measures of the late Sir CHARLES NAPIER. It would not be more absurd to allow at the present time the Duke de BORDEAUX to live in France, or the Conde de MONTEMOLIN in Spain, than it is to allow the ex-Ameers to live in Scinde. The question in these cases is, not whether the several claimants to the throne have or have not been deprived of their lights unjustly, but whether it consists with human nature that dethroned Sovereigns in any country will de sist from intriguing for the restoration of their power if they can only find facilities for doing so ; and whether it accords with com mon sense to afford them such facilities by allowing them to return and take up their abodes in the countries which they conceive they are lawfully entitled to rule. In the concluding portion of the news thus given us there is, however, matter of deeper import than even these intrigues. That the peo ple of Scinde, who were formerly so contented under our rule, should now be conspiring solved to wage war to the knife with us is a strong proof of the gross misgovernment to which they must have been of late subjected ; and in point of fact we have long been familiar with complaints of great mismanagement there. A revenue fallen to two thirds of its former amount, a commission established for the resumption of the estates of the Belooch nobility, the 'and tax levied in a new and arbitrary manner, the removal from office of all the higher native public functionaries of the province, and, finally, the lax discipline maintained among the local regiments, whose disorders are thus rather encouraged than re pressed,—these are all circumstances calcu lated to goad any people into disaffection ; and we need not be surprised, therefore, that they should have had such an effect in Scinde. What steps' it may please the President of the India Board to take with a view of reme dying these evils, and preventing this threatened outbreak, we cannot guess ; but that something should be done, and that quickly, must lie plain to all. The blunders of the Ministry have already brought work enough upon our hands without adding to the complication by a murderous outbreak in Scinde, an event which, in the present state of the public mind in India, would be infinitely more disastrous to us than even the outbreak at Cabool, for the flame would certainly spread to the Punjaub, which at present appears to be not over well affected to our rule. The Nizam's country would be up, and it is probable that the Burmese and Affghans would seize so favourable an oppor tunity of renewing hostilities. Under any other Administration we should be inclined to attach less weight to the danger; but, seeing what our Ministers have managed to effect in Europe during the last year and a half, there is nothing improbable in the supposition that they may as a climax be outwitted by the plausible but treacherous ex-Ameers of Scinde. It is for this reason that we call attention to the ominous hints supplied by the Indian journals, and state plainly the reasons which induce us to think that they are well founded. Should the threatened outbreak occur, it will take no one acquainted with the facts by sur prise, except, perhaps, her Majesty's Ministers, SATURDAY, and that one of them in particular to whose vigilant sagacity is confided the care of our Indian empire. THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY BILL. PARLIAMENT having now legislated for Oxford, it remains to bo seen how the measure of University Reform will succeed in practice. Experiment alone can finally test the truth of the conflicting views put forward in the pro longed discussions on this important subject. Unshaken in our general sentiments ou the character of the leading provisions of the mea sure, we shall await the results of its working with interest. There seems to be reason for fearing that a party struggle will take place in Congregation on the first exercise of its electoral privileges. The worst of a conflict in such a body is, that a bare majority of voices may exercise a lasting influence in the choice of the Hebdomadal Board. Cliques and coteries will toil to the utmost to achieve a triumph at the first election, which will necessarily be of the greatest importance. If another course had been followed, there would not be any reasonable grounds for such apprehensions. The debate of Thursday proved that in certain qtuirters there exists a • strong spirit of sectional sympatlL Mr. GLADSTONE was reproved by Sir WILLIAM HEATHCOTE for his partisanship in debate, and we have no doubt but that the admirers and followers of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER will, in Congregation, emulate the plausible casuistry of their subtle and dextrous leader. Uenuine Protestants and thoroughly English politicians cannot, therefore, be too vigilant in their observation of the practical working of the new measure. The fact that its actual parentage is obscure and uncertain gives reasons for additional caution in observing its "developments" in action. Lord DERBY asked, very naturally, " who were the authors " of the bill?" anti, even after the proceedings in the Commons on Thursday, it would be difficult to give a plain answer to the Noble Lord's question. More than iu ordinary cases, we must be cautious in regarding the early results of the recent legislation on Oxford. GENIUS AND THE PENSION LIST. THE annual recurrence of the publication of the literary names in the Pension List always suggests painful thoughts. Recollecting our profuse expenditure in other directions, we are mortified at observing the wretched sti pends doled out to persons distinguished by their valuable and original contributions to science and letters. We read of allowances of forty pounds per annum, and similar sums, to the destitute families of men who have earned a wide celebrity, and done honour to their native land. An eminent man arises, we read his works, or profit by his inventions. His name is mentioned with respect in intellectual :ireles. His writings or his discoveries may not, to himself, be lucrative in a commercial sense, though publishers and patentees may realise from them large gains, The genius languishes or dies, and a case is made out for himself, or his dearest and must destitute kindred, and, after due interviews with persons high in station, a pittance is obtained, and his family are told to be thankful, on an allowance from the State less than is often given to decayed servants in private families : Bad as the niggardly system is, it is felt by some that it is too dependent on the caprices of power and the accidents of poli tics. There is, as yet, not the least recogni tion of moral right in the claims of gifted individuals to ask for some small allowances in their infirmity or destitution. There is merely a selcction of applicants, in which the decisions are in many instances governed by personal considerations, rather than by intrinsic merits. The most painful part of the case of authors and artists is, as Mr. DISRAELI truly observed not long ago, at the Literary Fund dinner, that " they are urged