The Press. — London, England, 1857-12-12 00:00:00

1206 TO CORRESPONDENTS. ft is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive. Their insertion is often delayed owing to a press of matter, and when omitted. it is frequently from reasons quite lode- We cannot undertake to return communications of which we do not avail ourselves. Advertisements sent from the country must be accompanied by a remittance or a reference for payment in town. pendent of the merits of the communication. Communications should always be legtbly written, and on one side of the paper only. If long it increases the difficulty of Sadism space for them. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION Vrcss: (STAMPED) , l'er Annum .. .. .. Half Yearly.. .. .. Quarterly .. .. .. PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. . . 1 6 0 . . 0 1 3 0 . . ft 6 6 Subscribers are requested to send their orders through sews Agents; if direct to the llttice•, accompanied by a remittance Advertisements also must hare a reference or remittance Money Otters to be made payable to Mr. ALFRED iVg, 110 Strand, London. ,T — iit 21.xeJr00. LONDON, SATURDAY, DEC. 12, 1857. POSTSCRIPT. INDIA AND CHINA. LATER DESPATCII.-11ORE BATTLES. The following telegram was received at the Foreign-office, Dec. 11, 1857, 5.15 p.m.:— ALEXANDRIA, Dec. 5, 1857. The Bombay reached Suez on the 30th of November, bringing Bombay dates to the l'ith of November. Greathed's column, after the battle of Agra, was pushing on with all haste towards Cawnpore, where, on the kith, Brigadier Grant, of the oth Lancers, joined and took command. On the '23rd they arrived at Kanouj, where the enemy was cut up by our cavalry, and five guns cap. tured. The force, now about 3,500 straw', reached Cawn. pore on the '2sth, and being reinforced to tire thousand crossed the Ganges on the 30th, they reach Alumbagh without obstruction on the 3rd, and there wait till the Commander-in• Chief joins them. Luckanow, said to be surrounded by 50,000 insurgents, had not been relieved at the date of the latest advices, but still held out. Our forces at Alumbagh, only three miles from Luck now, though in easy communication with Cawnpore, hail not received a hue from Lucknow for more than a month. Heavy fighting, with slaughter, believed to have oc curred. Sir C. Campbell, who left Calcutta on Cie '27th of October, reached Cawnporeon the 3rd of November, where he remained till the 9th, waiting, it is presumed, rein forcements, which must bring up the force at Alumbagh when he joins to close on 10,000 men. _ _ On the - Ist of November an action was fought near the village of Kudjnai, betwixt the Dinapore mutineers and a detachment of 800 men, consisting of part of the Naval Brigade, and a detachment of the 93rd Highlanders, with two nine-pounders, under Colonel Powell, of her Majesty's 53rd Foot ; our success was complete, but loss heavy ; Colonel Powell being among the killed. The Naval Brigade afterwards fell back on Binkee with a view of returning to Futtehpore, and the rest of the troops reached Cawnpore on the 2nd. The Rohilcnnd rebels had again advanced towards Nynee Tal, and again taken to flight on finding the little force from that place was approaching. Mehidpore having been attacked on the Btb of November by a body of insur gent tribes from the neighbourhood, a portion of Malta Contingent joined the enemy, killed Capt. Mills, Dr. Casey, and Sergeant-Major O'Connell, and Manses, cap tured the guns and comp elled the other troops to retire. According to the latest accounts front Bombay, the Ist, 3rd, and 4th Divisions Nizam Cavalry, under Major On, attacked the rear-guard of the rebels on the Nib Nov., at Barrowal, recapturing the whale of guns and stores taken from Mehidpore, also two of enemy's guns ; 100 of enemy killed, seventy-four prisoners, our casualties not yet received, but said to be severe. The column tinder Brigadier Showers has captured Altujjur, l?aJree, Nuncood, and other places south west of Delhi, securing upwards of 70,0001. worth of treasure. Further north, General 'Van Cortlandt still keeps the country in order. The district between Agra and Meerut is so quiet that the post and passenger carriages run daily between the two places. Eastward of Oude the Bengalese Contingent has gained two victories over bodies of the insurgents. The steamer li , ngal reached Suez on the 3td inst. from Calcutta, but brings no later dates than those from Bombay. The dates from Hong Kong are to the 30th of October. Preparations were being made for the assault of Canton. JouN (REEL. Trieste, lith Dec., 9.90 cm. EAvax. Nib.. THE PRESS, DECEMBER 12, 1857. The Times private despatch says, that s;r Colin Campbell crossed the Ganges on the 10th, at the head of 1,500 men. THE PRINCESS ALICE. Letters from the Hague, dated the 7th inst., state that Lieutenant General Van Omphal has set out for London on a mission, of whicn the object is to demand officially, for the Prince of Orange, the band of the Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria. LAST NIGHT'S DEBATE. HOUSE OF LORDS. AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE. In reply to the Earl of SHAFTESBURY, The Earl of CLARENDON said that the contract entered into by the French Government for the supply of negro labourers to their West Indian colo• nies was in course of execution. The contract had been concluded on the principle that all the negroes exported from Africa should be voluntary emigrants, obtained without compulsion or purchase. This con dition, as the Foreign Secretary Confessed, there seemed no possibility of maintaining, as similar pro jects undertaken by English Administrations under the most favourable circumstances had been neces sarily abandoned, because it was discovered that their inevitable tendency was practically to revive the traffic in slaves. Colonel SYKES defended the East India Company, declaring that, so far from requiring the spur, they had actually galloped ahead of the Government in making preparation for the transmission of troops to India. The discussion, which assumed a desultory cha racter, was continued by Sir J. D. Elphinstone, Mr. P. O'Brien, and the Hon. Mr. Scott. After a few remarks from Sir BE LACY Everts, who had given notice of a motion for appointing a com mittee of inquiry into the Indian Transport Service, Lord PALMERSTON consented to the immediate appointment of such a committee. INDEMNITY BILL. On the motion of Lord STANLEY of ALDELLEY the Bank Issues Indemnity Bill was read a second time after considerable discussion, and, the standing orders being suspended, was carried rapidly through its remaining stages, and finally missed. Their lordships adjourned at half •past eight o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS. THE SUEZ CANAL. Mr. GRIFFITHS gave notice that shortly after the recess he should call attention to the demand made by the French Government to the Porte for authori sation to construct a canal across the Isthmus of Suez. BARON ROTHSCHILD. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE gave notice for an early day after the recess of a motion designed to allow Baron Rothschild to take his seat in that house upon taking the parliamentary oaths in the manner most binding on his conscience. AFRICAN DISCOVERY. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, in moving the postponement of the order of the day for com mittee of supply, intimated the intention of the Government to place 5,0001. at the disposal of Dr. Livingstone for the expense of an expedition of dis covery along the course of the Zambesi river, in Central Africa. Valuable results, especially con nected with the development of new sources of cotton supply, might, he believed, be expected to accrue from this expedition. EDUCATION. Sir J. PAKINGTON gave notice that he should. after the recess, call the attention of the house to the sub ject of public education. THE HAVELOCK ANNUITY. Lord PAL MERSTON stated the course which the Government intended to pursue with regard to the conduct of public business. Hoping that the Bank Issues Indemnity Bill would be ready to receive the Royal Assent to-morrow (Saturday„ he intended to propose that Parliament should then adjourn over the Christmas holidays until the 4th of February. Adverting to the Havelock Annuity Bill, the noble lord stated that, acting on the evident opinion of all parties in that house, her Majesty's Ministers in tended to introduce a new bill, extending to two lives the annuity it was proposed to grant in recognition of the eminent services performed by Sir Henry Have lock. REINFORCEMENTS TO INDIA. Mr. SEYMOUR FITZGERALD censured the apathy and inactivity displayed by the Government with relation to the despatch of reinforcements to India. After some observations from the SPEAKER and Lord JOHN RUSSELL on the question of Oude, Mr. V. SMITH stated that the transport question would be subjected to investigation before a select committee. He proceeded to explain the motives which bad prompted the Ministry to decline the pro posal for sending troops by the overland route. Ad. verting to his own department, the President of the Board of Control observad that, having neither mili tary nor naval advisers at hand, he had judged it best to lay the reins on the neck of the East India Company, put a spur in their sides, and leave the result to their unfettered action. Sir J. Pasixorow insisted that the excuses proffered on behalf of the Government were utterly inefficient. They had clearly been guilty of gross negligence, and they knew iw THE BANK ACTS. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved for a select committee to inquire into the operation of the Bank Act of 1844, as also of the acts relating to Scotch and Irish banks. He met by anticipation the amend ment to be proposed by Mr. Disraeli, maintaining that the inquiry into the large subjects connected with currency and banking as still uncompleted ; and describing at much length the various conclu sions at which experienced witnesses already ex amined before the committee of last session bad respectively arrived. He showed cause against the adoption of sundry schemes for a new system of paper circulation which had been proposed on different sides ; and while maintaining that the present commercial crisis had not arisen from the operation of the currency law, denied the assertion that it had entailed on the Goverament any duty of imme diate legislation on the question. The estimation in his own mind was to leave the law as it at present stood. Mr. ThsalEei asked why, if currency had nothing to do with the pending crisis, had Parliament been summoned by the Government at so inconvenient a period ? The cause of that summons was that the country had found itself in a state of commercial collapse, which had already extended into the manu facturing districts, and led the Ministry to sanction a breach of the law. Under such circumstances it might have been supposed that the Government would have either undertaken a legislative measure, or, at all events, asked from Parliament a definite opinion touching the causes and remedies of the existing distress. How futile was this conclusion after all the promises of care and attention to the interest of their constituents so lately lavished by hon. members on the hustings ! The session con vened in such an emergency was expected to pass away without result, and almost in silence. This be could not consider either serviceable to the country or compatible with the dignity of Parliament. He had wished to separate the discussion of the currency question from the formal passing of the Indemnity Act. Mr. Disraeli then denied the allegation, urged by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that be had impugned the value of the evidence collected by the late committee on the Bank Acts. On the contrary, he so fully appreciated their labours that he believed they had exhausted the subject. It was on this very ground that he objected to the reap pointment of that committee. He was convinced that further investigation was needless, and the time was come when the house could bring the question to a distinct and definite conclusion. Even the Chancellor of the Exchequer seemed to have made up his mind on all, or almost all, the principal points involved. The right hon. member wished to retain the present act ; but he forgot that the law, having twice been broken, had lost all its moral value, and could not possibly regain any practical efficiency. He called on the house to declare that they would not stop legislation—that they would not, by appoint ing a committee, debar themselves from proceeding, after the recess, with an attempt to bring the ques tion to some practical conclusion. The appointment of the committee would act as a padlock on the mouth of every member who wished to speak or had any suggestion to propose on the subject of the currency laws. Crises which many could remember, and all had read about, had occurred in 1847,1837, and 1825. But in none of these instances was the distress so serious, or the causes of disturbance so multifarious. At present credit was shaken and trade prostrate in the United States, and nearly over the whole Euro pean continent, and the consequences reacted disastrously upon the commerce of England. In 1847 a list of failures, including liabilities extending to seventeen millions sterling, occasioned infinite dismay ; but during the last two months houses had suspended with liabilities, at least, amounting to fnrty.five millions, or more than double that sum. It was, he submitted, clearly the duty of Parliament without delay to inquire into the causes of this com mercial distress. if such an investigation had been proposed, he would have at once acceded to the motion. But, seeing the inquiry included in a general investigation of the currency question, he knew too well what would be the result. In 1847 such a committee sat for several weeks, and spent the whole time in a wrangle concerning the issue of bank-notes. If a committee was now again nomi, 111