The Press. — London, England, 1857-09-26 00:00:00

932 Noble Viscount at the head of her Majesty's Government—certainly a formidable rival to any comic celebrity—is taking a leaf out of the performe►'s book. When the China policy paid well it was his own policy, his own peculiar pet question. /EH was an insolent barbarian who had poisoned and assassinated British subjects, and vengeance must be prompt and signal. Now, however, that Cliina has become a little passive, the Nobie Lord — through his organs, of course—repudiates all connection with the affair. "He told us how it would be",-the war could wait That headstrong. fighting Mr. COBDEN declared there was an imperative ne cessity for vindicating the honour of the Bri tish Government in the Chinese wars. What so silly? Lord PALMERSTON knew better. He was not going to war instantaneously about such a trifle as the Arrow. Oh dear no ; he knew a great deal better than that. The gentlemen who voted against Lord PAL MERSTON in the Chinese debate must expe rience strange sensations, we think, when they read this language in the Government jour nals. They themselves must have clearly been dreaming, and cannot even be tho roughly awake yet. For still they seem to see before their eyes certain characters form ing certain words which express certain ideas in the Times of March and February last, wholly contradictory to what the Premier de clares he then said. It is a most extraGrdi nary hallucination. That is all we can say. We ourselves cannot yet disabuse our minds of the impression that Lord PALMERSTON was for " a vigorous prosecution of hostilities ;" but, nevertheless, we would not presume to doubt that he " told us how it would be." THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 26, 1857. rather St. Cloud. It is not her intention to visit the camp. At the present momentous crisis in the East, it cannot fail to be interesting to you to be made acquainted with the state of the French possessions in India. France possesses five commercial stations, and every effort, it is probable, will be made to increase their capabilities of defence in case of attack by the rebels. I will enumerate them, although they are generally known, with the in tention that they should not be lost sight of during the actual disorganised state of the British dominions in India. As yet, I have not beard of the sending out of any troops, but thus much I can state, the French Government attaches great im portance to its Indian colonies. Pondichery has from 50,000 to 00,000 inhabitants. The city is well built and very healthy. Chanderna. gore lies beautifully situated on an arm of the Hoogly, called Ongly. This place had formerly a flourishing commerce, but now few vessels are to be seen in its dilapidated port. This port will be repaired, fortifica tions thrown up, and every effort made to restore its commercial prosperity. The Hoogly here is navigable for ships of the line. The population consists of upwards of 30,000 native and European inhabitants. This town is only seventeen miles above Calcutta. Carrical, on the Coromandel coast, within 130 miles of Madras, still carries on a good business, principally in the manufacture of cloth. From reports recently received, it is the opinion of practical men that these three places could be well defended ; their fortifications were in good order. The defences will be increased. The city of Yanan is most advantageously situated on the Godavery ; its chief commerce is in cloth ; the situation is most healthy. France has besides a small port called Mahe, in the province of Carnatic, but it is not of much importance. Independent of these places, France possesses by trea,ies certain rights to which she attaches great interest. She had the right to establish comptoirs and military posts at Masulipatam, Calicut, and Surate. The whole of the French garrisons are composed of only two companies of sepoys of 600 men each, and commanded by European officers. The tribunals of Algeria are frequently occupied in trying sanguinary conflicts arising from the great abuse made by the natives in drinking spirituous liquors, and the smoking of kill. The French Government, anxious to prevent the smoking of kiff, has desired several eminent chemists to analyse it. The following is a short extract from the report of these gentlemen The inhabitants of Algeria make a deplorable abuse of a certain mixture, composed principally of hemp. The active part of the hemp, and which causes such a portubation on the mind, is a species of resin to be found principally in the leaves. The Arabs and Moors, not being able to extract the resin, boil the leaves and mix it with grease, butter, and honey. This mixture is sometimes called haschich. Jt is well known that it was with the haschich that Sheekked-Djebel, the old man of the mountain, produced those extraordinary haliu• cinations, and which had such effects on his subjects, that he became absolute master, not only of their persons, but of their minds. The Moors of Algiers, not satisfied with smoking the kiff or haschich, as prepared in the way above stated, mix it with tobacco and sometimes opium. Mount I'elate, in Switzerland, has been ascended for the first time on hortaeback by three English ladies. The ascent was made from the Hengeswyl side. lErtign oi,tartspoitbentt. PARIS, September 24th The Emperor will reach Stuttgardt to-morrow. In my next I am in hopes of being able to send you eom 3 particulars of the interview between the two Emperors. I hear also from authentic sources that the Emperors of France and Austria will have an interview in October in one of the German cities. The exact locality is not yet fixed, but the interview is decided on. This news will open a wile bald for speculations, and you may ex pe:t to shortly find the Germ an papers filled with conjectures of all sorts. I may as well here correct certain errors which hive been circulated by an ordinary well informed Bel.4ian paper. It is not true that Count Walewski has addressed a note to the parties interested in the Holstein-Denmark affair, and that such a note was favourable to Danmark. The French Government had never the intention of interfering in the dis puted question, aware that its solution depends solely on the decision of the Diet. It is not true that the Cardinal Antonelli has fallen nt • disgrace, and that he has been requested to resign. The cardinal continues to enjoy the full confidence of the Pope, and there is not the least chance of his being replaced in the high offize he now fills. It is not true that the Bey of Tunis has addressed a note to the French Government, demanding to be placed under its protection in his endeavour to throw off the yoke of the Sultan. if the Bey of Tunis bad ever the intention to free himself of his vassalage to the Porte, which is much to be doubted, certain it is he would not have applied to the Emperor for aid and protection. Napoleon has laid it down as a principle never to interfere in the organisation or hierarchy of any State unless officially and openly called on to act as an arbitrator. Count Walewski, who accompanies the Emperor of the French, left Paris yesterday. The King of Denmark has sent time Great Cross of the Order of the Elephant to Count Walewski. The Empress, who continues in the enjoyment of excellent health, will not leave Biarritz before the end of the month, when she will come to Paris, or THE CALCUTTA PETITION. At a meeting of merchants and others at Calcutta the annexed petition W the Home Legislature had been adopted : Petition of the British inhabitants of Calcutta to the Lards and Common♦ of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of the undersigned British inhabi tants of Calcutta most huwbly showeth,— That your petitioners view with daily increasing anxiety and alarm the condition and prospects of British They do not despair of its speedy reconquest by the forces of her Majesty, but it is undeniable that, with the exception of three or four places of strength, the whole of the north-west provinces, as well as the newly acquired kingdom of Oude, is lost for the present. In addition to which Tirhoot, Behar, and Chota Nagpore are in danger. Throughout India the native belief in the prestige of British power has been destroyed, and where the Asiatic has no dread of physical force he has no respect for moral influence. Over thousands of square miles, where three months since Engliblitueu travelled in security unarmed, at this moment European women for themselves and their chit• dren court speedy death as a blessing. On every highway lie the dishonoured and mutilated remains of our countrywomen and their children and the bodies of British soldiers and unarmed man foully mur dered. The Government of the East India Company, to whose care the interests of Great Britain in the East have been confided, possess from their constitution absolute power. They have a perpetual majority in the Legislative Council, which is composed entirely of official persons. They have the sole appointment to all offices with the exception only of those of the Governur•General, the Commander-in-Chief, and the Judges of the Supreme Court. There are no private or corporate rights that can be effectually opposed to them, nor is there any representation of public opinion. In the country desolated by the rebels there are hundreds of civil eervants, judges, magistrates, and collectors, village chowkeilars and policemen in tens of thousands, and more than 2,000 commissioned military officers—European and native; and yet, if we may believe the Government, there was not in all this vast establishment to be found one person to acquaint the authorities of the existence of a con spiracy spread over countries many times larger than the area of the British Isles, and in which upwards of a hundred thousand soldiers have joined. The rebellion broke out and found the Government totally unprepared. No efficient commissariat, no organ ised means of procuring intelligence, and, with a few brilliant exceptions, no men of sufficient capacity for the emergency. At the commencement of the outbreak Delhi, the largest arsenal of ordnance in the north-west of India, the important military depot of Cawnpore, and the fortress and arsenal of Allahabad, the key of the lower provinces, were without a single European soldier to defend them. The two former fell into the hands of the insurgents. On the 25th of may last, when a number of regiments were in open revolt, when many treasuries had been plundered and various important stations fallen into the hands of the rebels, the Secretary to the Home De partment officially informed the inhabitants of Calcutta, in answer to loyal addresses tendering aid and personal service, that " the mischief caused by a passing and groundless panic had already been arrested, and that there was every reason to hope that in the course of a few days tranquillity and confidence would be restored throughout the Presidency." _ _ From that hour to the present the policy of Government has not undergone the slightest change. In the teeth of events the most startling, in defiance of warnings the most emphatic, they steadily persisted in ignoring the fact of danger for which they had made no preparation. On the 13th of June they passed a law which destroyed the liberty of the press, and placed every journal in India at the absolute feet of the executive authority. Your petitioners refrain from here commenting on this act of the Government, uncalled for by the occasion, repugnant to British feeling, and subversive of the prin ciples of the British Constitution. This was done at a time when the Government were receiving universal support from the English portion of the press. Your petitioners felt themselves bitterly aggrieved by the attempted imposition of what is known as the Black Act, but their feelings in that respect never hindered them for a moment in coming forward to assist the Government with heart and hand. Their offers were coldly declined, though ultimately accepted when danger was too apparent At the present moment not only does Calcutta owe its chief security to European volunteers, but Govern• meat have invited the enrolment of paid corps for service in the interior. The whole trade of the Presidency has suffered more or less, many branches of it are ruined entirely. The sale of imports is almost nominal, the cotton goods of England are not t be digposed of even at great sacrifices. The export of silk, indigo, and sugar, and other articles of export will suffer considerable diminution for some seasons to come in consequence of the destruction of many factories and the loss of much capital. In the train of the revolt it is more than probable that famine with all its Indian horrors will follow. To remedy all these evils and to fix on a firmer basis the British power in the East your petitioners can alone appeal to the British nation. Your petitioners can look for no redress to the powers to whom the Government of this great country is delegated, they having shown themselves unequal to the task. The Government of the East India Company have neither men, money, nor credit; what credit they had was destroyed by their c.mduct in the late financial operations. The army has dissolved itself, the treasuries have either been plundered by the rebels or exhausted by the public service, and a loan, even at six pet cent., would scarcely find subscribers. When triingaillity is once restored, her Majesty's Ministers will find that many millions sterling have been added to the Indian debt, and that the annual deficits of the Indian budget will be materially increased ; but under good government your petitioners have the fullest confi dence that the boundless resourc , :ts of this vast country are sufficient to meet all necessary demands of the State. The system under which the country has been hitherto governed, utterly antagonistic as it has ever been to the encouragement of British settlement and enterprise in India, has entirely failed to preserve the power of the Queen, to win the affections of the natives, or to secure the confidence of the British in India. Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that your hon. hcuse will adopt such measures as may be necessary for removing the government of this country trom the East India Company, and substituting in its place the direct government of her Majesty the Queen, with an open legislative council, suitable to the tequirementa of the country and compatible with the British supremacy, Queen's courts presided over by trained lawyers and with the English language as the official court language. And your petitioners will ever pray, itc. Calcutta, August 3.