The Press. — London, England, 1857-10-10 00:00:00

986 also evangelical men of other parties, amounting to eighteen individuals, hail a meeting on the subject of caste. The resolutions adopted were caste being a distinction founded upon supposed birth, parity or impurity, is in its nature essentially a religious and not a mere civil institution, and consequently opposed to the declarations of Scripture. It was therefore resolved that candidates from the heathen should be well instructed regarding the sinful nature and subterfuges of eAste, and before receiving this ordinance should he required to declare that they renounce caste usages for ever both in principle and practice. That a Christian refusing to receive a brother Christian into his house—especially to receive a catechist or preacher to eat with him, to listen to his instructions, to join with him in prayer, or to receive the Lord's Supper from a native minister on account of cute—can proceed only from the heathenish idea of birth, purity, or pollution, and ought not to be tolerated in the Church of Christ. In Jesus Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor unciroutncision, barbarian, Scythian, 'Auld or free. How utterly incon sistent then in that body of which Jesus Christ is the head, and where all are members one of another. Wa can form an idea of the effect of such doctrine without putting on our Indian spectacles. Let us suppose that the clergy should decide upon preach ing that "conversion" should ipso facto abrogate the distinctions of society; that a catechist or preacher, whatever may be his position in society, should be entitled to intrude on us whenever it suited him; that he should be entitled to eat with us, and that we should be bound to listen to his in strurtions and join him in prayer, whatever might be our position in society. Just propose this to the most evangelical of our aristocrats, and you will have a taint idea how the same proposal would be received by a Hindoo, whose ideas of caste are much higher and more inflexible than ours. He would tell you that no doctrine could be propounded more calculated to sow dissension among families, to break up ties of relationship, and, indeed, to em- bitter the whole intercourse of society. We may be perfectly certain that this denunciation of caste has been preached all over India with high. pressure missionary vehemence ; consequently, we may also be certain that a great deal of discontent has been caused thereby. This is the missionaries' share in bringing on the mutiny.* I have purposely said I would abstain from ethical discussions ' • but I would suggest to the missionaries that St. Paul sanctioned the institutions of society in the Roman empire —that, although in relation to God all men are equal, it does not follow they are so in relation to one another, notwithstanding that the authority of Jean Jaques Rousseau and the Socialists might be alleged in support of such an inference ; and I would further suggest whether it would not be better to give prominence to the great doctrines of Christianity, trusting to their influence indirectly to abolish caste, than to preach a doctrine which is sure to raise Hindoo society in arms both against Christianity and Christians, and consequently to minimise conversion.—l am, sir, your obedient servant, NAPIEIt'S GHOST. [We do not endorse all the opinions of correspon dents on the subject of Indian affairs.—En. PaEss.] foreign an 4 Colonial 3nteliigenec. FRANCE. The grand review which winds up the proceedings at the camp of Chalons for the present season took place on Thursday morning in presence of the Emperor, the Empress, Prince Napoleon, and three Marshals of France. The Empress returned to St. Cloud the same evening, and the Emperor was ex pected to return yesterday. The camp, it is said, will be broken up. The Dibats, in allusion to the recent Imperial interviews at Suttgardt and Weimar, refers them to a long•conceived desire of the King of Prussia to bring together the three Emperors. The reaction on the Bourse has set in with vio lence, and all the efforts of the great speculative establishments to support the crumbling market have proved fruitless. AUSTRIA. The Borsenhalle of Hamburg announces from Vienna that ail the rumours of Count Buol's resignation are devoid of foundation. The probable inference from this news is that the interview of 'Weimar will not be productive of any change in Austrian policy. The Emperor of Austria arrived on the . 2nd at Prague. The German journals, as may naturally be sup posed, discuss at considerable length the interview at Weimar. The causes which led to it immediately after that of Stuttgardt, and the consequences which may result from it, are alike the object of their com ments. These journals, however, do not agree in their accounts. While some state that the interview e The panic of the gres.ed ..artridges is not so unuecouutablo Rhos we consider this prelinnuary preaching. THE PRESS, OCTOBER 10, 1857. had been for some time contemplated by the Empe ror Alexander, others, and among them the Bourse Gazette of Berlin, affirm that. the journey of the Czar only took place in consequence of a sudden resolu tion of his Majesty, and that a very short time before no idea of the kind was entertained even in the best informed circles : It is stated (adds that journal) that the decision of the Emperor was only come to in consequence of the receipt of an autograph letter from the Grand Duke of Saxe Weimar. The Pays, on the same subject, remarks : We are inclined to believe that the visit of the Emperor of Russia was solicited by the Emperor of Austria. The Liberal papers of Germany have, without a single exception, manifested the sincerest sympathy with the struggles of England to put down the bar barous rising in her dominions in Tndia. RUSSIA. The Emperor and Empress of Russia left Berlin on the night of the 6th. The Emperor proceeded direct to Warsaw. PRUSSIA. The visit of the Emperor Napoleon to this Court will not take place immediately. Prussia and Austria have addressed a note to the Cabinet of Copenhagen on the subject of the Duchies. This document is couched in friendly terms towards Denmark ; it represents the vote of the Diet of Holstein as a loyal reply to the appeal of the Crown, and expresses a hope that the latter will endeavour to satisfy the wishes expressed in the address of the States and to come to a direct and friendly understanding with the Duchies. SPAIN. The Madrid Gazette of the 4th contains no remarks upon the recent Ministerial crisis ; but all the other papers, as on the previous days, are greatly occupied with the subject. The Iberia says that the resigna tions of the Ministers had been accepted, but that the Ministers were to remain in their posts until a new Cabinet could be formed. On the previous even ing, it adds, the Queen and Ministers were at the theatre, and in the course of the performance the latter waited on her Majesty in her box, and held, under her Majesty's presidency, in the saloon ad joining the box, a sort of council which lasted half en hour. This naturally excited a good deal of curiosity amongst the public, but no one knew the resolution come to. M. Bravo Murillo and General Lersundi, as well as General de la Rocha, continued to be spoken of as likely to be intrusted with the formation of a Cabinet. According to the Espana, also, the Ministers had certainly resigned, and the Queen, though wishing them to remain in office to the meeting of the Cortes, had accepted their resignation. The Epoca says the same thing, but adds that the Queen had earnestly solicited Marshal Narvaez to undertake the formation of a new Ministry, and that it was not impossible that the crisis would end by his doing so. It is added that some of the colleagues of Narvaez had recommended him to remain in power. SWEDEN. The Prince Royal of Sweden has just, in his capa city of Regent of Sweden and Norway, summoned to Stockholm Baron de Mandersneem, Swedish Minister at Paris. This diplomatist was one of the principal negotiators of the treaty of friendship con cluded between Sweden and the two Western powers in the Russian war, and it is believed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is destined for him. That department has, since the retirement of M. de Steernehl, been provisionally administered by M. de Lagerheim. TURKEY AND THE PRINCIPALITIES. In the new modification of the Ministry, IlionMar Bey holds the office of Minister of Justice. He is regarbd as an opponent of the union of the Princi palities. The financial situation of the country does not improve, and paper money has fallen in value to the extent of twenty per cent. The elections in Wallachia have terminated, and are in favour of the Union. The Moldavian Divan will assemble on the 4th of October, and that of Wallachia on the Nth of the same month. The Eteile du Danube publishes, in its last num ber, a list of the deputies nominated to the Divans ad hoc in the late elections in the Principalities. Each of these lists are divided into five series, as representing the clergy, the large landed proprietors, the small ditto, the towns, and the rural communes. The programme published by the Wallachians states in substance :—" We wish to preserve in all their integrity the rights of our ancestors, which form the bases of our governmental existence, and to respect at the same time the rights of suzerainty of the Sublime Porte." The Moldavians express their wishes in the following terms :—" Union of the Principalities into one State, with proper respect for the rights of the Sublime Porte, according to tlia I letter and spirit of our ancient treaties. Advices from Galatz state that the commission for improving the state of the Danube at present is dis playing considerable activity. After balancing long between the St. George and the Sulina mouths, and seemingly inclining to the former, the commission has definitively decided in favour of the other. The sandbanks of Agagni, which extend from Tultcha to Galatz, are being dredged. Large quantities of corn, these winces state, were arriving at Galatz, and lower prices were looked for. CHINA. The Pays has received a correspondence from China to August 11. At that date no answer had been received to the demand made by the French Charge d'Affaires, M. de Bourboulon, through the Viceroy of Canton, to the Government of the Celestial Empire. This document, it is said, demanded satisfaction for divers breaches of conventions, and especially for the marder of tho French missionary, the Abbe Chapdeleine, who was put to death in contempt of the stipulations of the Treaty of Whampoa. Lord Elgin was expected at Hong Kong, from Cal. cutta, about the end of August. It was also thought that Baron Gros would be in China by the sometime, and that then, in a conference between the admirals and ambassadors extraordinary of the two nations, a course of action in common might be resolved upon. AMERICA. Intelligence from America to the 26th ult. brings the news that Walker was again organising a power. ful force for the invasion of Nicaragua. The Prosi, dent had issued peremptory orders that the embarks. tion of these troops was not to be permitted, but it was believed probable that Walker would evade the law. Court am ilasinon. Her Majesty the Queen will leave Balmoral on Tuesday next for Haddo house, the seat of the Earl of Aberdeen. On the morning of Wednesday her Majesty will leave Haddo•hou~e for Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and on Thursday return to London and Windsor. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge is at present on a visit to Manchester. Viscount Palmerston returned to Broadlands last week after the Cabinet Council on Friday. The Right Hon. Sir Charles Wood, Bart, M.P., left his official residence at the Admiralty on Saturday evening for Hickleton-hall, Yorkshire. The Earl Granville has left town for Manchester. Mr. Denby Seymour, Secretary to the Board of Control, is at present on a visit to Normanton. The Marquis of Lansdowne has left town for Crewe•hall, Chesire. Vlitztal. Ma. BAXTER, M.P. for the Montrose Burghs, ad dressed his constituents this week, and after reviewing the labours of the last session, which he characterised as " one of the most harassing and uninteresting " for years past, said, with regard to the Beform Bill for 1858 ! Lord Palmerston is publicly pledged next year to bring in a measure, and, unless events in the East cause a general acquiescence in its further postponement, I am not sus picious enough to imagine that the word of promise will not be kept. 1 hope it will include a further revision and improvement of the representation of small boroughs, the disfranchisement of some, the taking away of one member from others, and granting of additional members to great towns of comparatively recent origin which have not their fair share in the government of the country. With regard to India, Mr. Baxter observed that the first question which will naturally be asked when Parliament reassembles is, was no warning ever given of what has taken place ? Among the numerous and gifted civil and militaty servants of the company were there none far•seeit;g enough to predict the gathering storm ? I am afraid the officials of Cannon row and Leadenhall•street will find it difficult to persuade the Legislature and the public to accept of a negative answer to queries which involve culpability anti neglect. Did Lord Metcalfe, referring to the condition of the Bengal army, say, " I fear we shall wake up some fine morning and find that her Majesty has lost India "? Were native newspapers containing notices of wide•spresd disaffection laid before the council of lsC'O? Did the late lamented General Anson never cease to represent to the Directors the danger to be apprehended from the sepoys ? Did Lord Melville when he returned home in 1850 (I quote his own words in the House of Lords) express the greatest disapprobation of the condition of the Bengal troops, and was he told really not to publish his sentiments lest foreign nations should be acquainted with the state of affairs? Is Sir C. Napier correct in stating that in 1849 " a mutinous spirit pervaded some thirty erpoy battalions in march for, or actually employed in, the Pimbaub "? Did not he, in a work published in 1803, say—" Mutiny with the sepoys is the most formidable danger menacing our Indian empire—a danger that may come unexpectedly, and, if the first symptoms be not carefully treated, With a