The Sun. — London, England, 1858-02-16 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PAR LIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YisnaDA.T.) _ _ INDIA. In answer to Mr. PALE, Mr. T. SMITH said no such report had been re ferred to, nor did he think it likely each would be made. Under the circumstances of the state of India it was necessary that Indian officers should be recalled who were on furlough. Some had been appointed to office by the Governor-General. They had been paid their passage money, and the time they had been on fur lough would be counted al service. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. Mr. CHILD asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it was the intention of the Government this session to introduce any bill to amend the laws relating to weights and measures 1 The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he eould not undertake to produce any measure on the sub jeot this session. BARRACK ACCOMMODATION. Viscount INGESTRE asked the Under Secretary for War when it was the intention of Government to proceed with the designs for infantry and cavalry bar racks selected by the official Committee on Barrack Accommodation for the Army in the years 1855 and 1856, according to the pledge given to the successful candidates Sir J. RAMSDEN said no new barracks had been commenced since the period referred to. When the army estimates came before the house he should ask for a rum of money for the erection of a small cavalry barracks at Nottingham, and if it were granted they would be erected under the dirootion of the gentleman who gained the first prize for designs for cavalry bar racks. THE PRINCE ALBERT TROOP SHIP. Mr. HENLEY asked the Vice-President of the Board of Trade, whether any certificate (under the MerCoant Shipping Act, 1854), had been granted by the Board of Trade for the Prince Albert, 2 , 500 to ns, iron steamship, that sailed with troops for India in the autumn of last year I Mr. LOWE said that the Prince Albert was taken up by the East India Company for the conveyance of troops to India, having been approved of by the surveyor to the company. She was afterwerds surveyed by the surveyor to the Board of Trade, who reported that the vessel did not comply with certain requirements under the Merchant Shipping Act, but he did not reportagainat the vessel, believing her to be agood and trust worthy ship. Under these considerations the Board of Trade refused to grant a certificate, but under the emergency of the case they opposed no objections to the vessel's sailing, and she sailed without the certificate. INDIA BILL.-ADJOURNED DEBATE. The adjourned debate was resumed by Mr. ROEBUCK, who said that a more important 1 subject than the present had never occupied the atten tion of Parliament. The noble lord had stated on the first evening of the debate that the subjects of the Queen in India, for whom that House was about to legislate, amounted to 150,000,000, but he would have been more accurate and nearer to the truth if he had said that the number of persons in India under British sway amounted to very nearly 200,000,000, and that being the case he thought that he was justified in saying that a more im portant question than the present had never been the subject of consideration of that house. With respect to the mode in whioh that dominion had been acquired, it was not his intention to enter into that question, but he might, perhaps, be allowed to say that he would chal lenge opposition, that in acquiring that dominion Eng land had broken through almost every rule of morality. She had, it was true, exhibited great valour and great intelligence, but not great virtue, and when an hon. gentleman on the last night of the debate spoke of the acquisition of that rule as forming one of the brightest pages in the annals of the history of England he could only ask him if he bad formed a picture to himself of that which really constituted a bright page in the annals of the history of a country. If the hon. gentleman meant that British troops in India had shown great valour, that their generals had shown great ability, and that English. men had shown in all cases wonderful intelligence in attaining their ends, then he thought that the right hon. gentleman was right in calling the history of the con nexion of England and India a bright page in British annals. Bat if he meant to say that England had during that period displayed a regard for the great principles of morality, that she had been in all cases faithful to her engagements, that she had shown herself incapable of receding from her word, then he thought that the hon. gentleman was stating that which history would not support. He fer his own part could not consi der tat a bright page in the annals of England, although in it she displayed great valour and intelligence, without any accompaniment of virtue. He believed, however, that British rule, obtained even as it had been, might be turned to great benefit for the people of India. If he thought that British dominion in India was to be for the future what it had been during the past, that the people of India would not obtain any more advantage from the improved civilisation and the greater morality of the people of England than they had hitherto done, then he should consider that we should be justified in departing from the shores of India, and leaving the Indians to govern themselves. He believed, however, that as the morality and intelligence of the people of England was made to bear upon the English Government in India, the natives of India would obtain a better system of government than they had ever yet received. It ap peared to him, from a careful perusal of their h i story that the people of India were incapable of governing themselves, and that by bringing to bear upon them greater intelligence and better morality than they themselves possessed great benefits would be extended to them. Such had not been the case bitherto, but he believed that the first step towards establishing such a state of things was the bill of the noble lord. (Hear.) The present question to be determined was two fold— fires what was the government best fitted for India, and secondly, whether the present was the right time to establish it. That was a distinction which had been made throughout the debate, and, although those gentlemen who opposed the bill by pressing upon the latter ap peared to give up the former part of the argument, he thought that upon an occasion like the present, when it was most desirable to obtain the expression of the feel ings and of the intelligence of the people of England, it ilecame the members of that house to go through the thole of the argument. (Hear.) Now, preparatory to %he argument which he intended to adduce he wished to make one or two observations upon the state of India at present. India, it was to be remembered, was not a colony, but a conquest. (Hear.) A colony he conceived to be a body of men sent out from a mother country, who, settling in some distant place', ti)k with them there the manners, the language, and the institutions of the mother country. And, with regard to the 13ritieh colonies, the best mode of governing. them was to allow them to govern themselves. Nearly a quarter of a cen tury, he was sorry to say, had elapsed since be had first denounced interference in the affairs of our colenie3,and he recollected that his suggestions were received with strong indignation, and that very priecip.e which at present was the main principle upon which the colonies of England were governed —namely to allow them to govern themselves—was received with v. howl of disap probation. India, however, as he had said, was not a colony, but a conquest, and she could not be treated en similar principles. We had to deal in that country with a people who were numerous and partially civilised, and who were quite unable to govern themselves, and there fore it behoved them, if they retained dominion in India to give to that people a government capable of maintain ing order, and one whioh would conduce to their welfare and happiness. It was said by some that we had from incapacity in ourselves been compelled to allow the colonies to govern themselves, and therefore that it was clear that we were unfit to govern India. But tho two cases were not parallel, India being, as he had said before, a conquest and not a colony ; and for his own part he believed that a Government properly established in India could govern India far better than any which the people of India could establish for themselves. As regarded the present state of things in India the history of that state of things was very remarkable. When George 111. came to the throne he was, as he thought, out of his mind, and there was one feeling which pursued him through life, and which he carried out with all the cannin g of insanity. He believed himself to be in danger of mug treated like certain of the Merovingian kings, and be expected to be some day shaved and sent to a convent. And he entertained on that accsunt eelings of great alarm to coauptoutrrayu, ed with the great body of the aristocracy of the and the treat object of his life, and one which down the pow er of the p er ti nac ity, was to break and the climax the great families of the kingdom, senting the arri ve d a r i stocrat when Mr. F o x himself, repre- Inbody, brought in his India Bill. That India n Bi ll was, as regarded th e t h en know l edge if the people of Englan w s d, a 0 were wise measur e . B ut t h e Ki ng ghtterasinsane bee pr ett.e y persuaded the p lu eote rian bill, as the Soverei ) A tn at therenearly i was great danger in Mr. Fox' s Power over the power i)earvaard.been his India was to be conferred on the British A cry was raised against that measure. own fortune since he had been an • politics to hear a cry raised about as unwise asoft*PlirtT, which he was referring , and also to see that cr y teat :- down. Mr. Fox, however, did not live to see the peopf e of England oome to their senses as we bad done. This - was the first symptom of returning sanity on their part in inward to India. Mr. Pitt, taking advantage of the cry in England, palmed upon the people throug h th e Parliam ent a great " sham. " He tol the directors that he was exceedingly anxious tomaintain their p ower, and he brought i n a b i l l which received the approbation the thea repres en t at i ves of the East India Com p an y. of They showed their w i s d om by so doi ng , f or they thereby lost their whole power ov er I n di a ! T hat was the - conse quence of having " old Indiarte" to govern I n di a , M Pitt cajoled them and instituted the B oar d o f Control .' And what had been the result! The Board of Control from that time to this bad been the irresponsible gover nors of India. " A board," said Jeremy Bentham, "i s a screen !" And so the Board of Control had proved. The Chancellor of the Exchequer last Friday evening explained to them with a deal of humour, which coming that the Court of Directors, from him told—(laught?r)— as compared with the Board of Control, were eearly powerless. And it was quite clear that the real authority rested with the President of that Board, and that the only use of the Court of Directors was to take from the President of the Board ofj Control all the troubled his e seesr. Tf, director, l efF.,e, and tO 1839 , 3 lam ell • were used as a screen for him whenev er anyd thcu,o occurred. The burden was thrown upon the shoulders of the Court of Directors, who in turn threw it back as a shuttlececle to the Board of Control ; while the public, Tilt SUN, LONDON, TITESDAN EVENING, FEBRUARY J 16, lB5B. with eyes open and months agape, stood bewildered, not knowing whom to blame. That was a true picture of the present Home Government for India. Should we allow this state of things to continue t It was neces sary to draw a distinction. They had two things to do in the arrangement of the Government for India. First, they had to arrange the machinery which should bring to bear upon the actual governors of India the opinion of the Parliament and people of England, and their responsibility to that opinion. This was what was called the Home Government. They had also to constitute the Government of India which should carry out their plans when they had been duly matured in England. 1 Fer the first operation they did not require any know ledge of the people of India: All that was requisite was a general knowledge of the principles of human nature. They wanted to bring to bear on their officials in India a responsibility towards the people of England ; and if they accomplished that they would do suffioient for the good government of India as far as the Home Government was conoerned. By the double government, however, under which it was hardly possible to know who was answerable for any act performed by the Home Government of India, they had done their utmost to destroy all responsibility and all efficiency in that Government. They were bound, then, to get rid of such a state of things as soon as possible. The question next arose, ought they to go back to the East India Corn- p an y I True, that Company wore very much in the habit of praising themselves, and when nobody else would praise one it was as well to praise oneself. (A. .laugh.) But, looking to the career of that body until the Parliament of England interfered to restrain it, was ever a worse or more rapacious Government than that of the East India Company known in the history of the world I Hon, gentlemen might refer on this matter to the pages of a great defender of the Company —Lord Macaulay, in whose " Life of Clive" they would find that the whole object of their Government was money ! —money to the directors in the shape of dividend,money to their servants in the shape of large fortunes ; and that they had crushed and trampled upon the unhappy people of Hindostan as if they bad been diet beneath their feet, except that they were dirt out of which they could dig gold. Therefore, judging them from their past history, the Court of Directors were not fit persons to be trusted with the future gpvernment of India. But the Directors repres en t e d th e Court of Proprietors. On what principle were they electee The Court ef Proprie tors consisted of persons who possessed Elet India stock and in a certain proportion to the amount of stock which they individually held was the number of their voter. He want of responsibility, of the difficulties of governing India, and did they then succeed because they were right, or because they were wrong I He entered into a laboured defence of the conduct of the Court of Direc tors, who had always shown great intelligence, industry, and knowledge of their business, and of the people of India. He cited the opinione of Mr. Mill, Lord Macau lay, and others, to chow that the directors proved themselves more competent to manage the affairs of India than the Board of Control, and that the system of double government was more fees from party influences and better fitted for the circurnetances than any other. Cou!d the directors be charged with want of promptitude or skill in their arrangements during the late crisis in any one particular ? If they were to discard the com pany, what would they get 1 He read a multitude of quotations from former debates to show that any substi tute would be truckling to the Government of the day, its mere tool and dependents. The Duke of Wellington had borne testimony to the purity and excellence of the government of the company. He denied that the change in our army administration daring the Crimean war had any analogy to the immense changes now proposed in the government of a great empire, yet this was the only argument which the noble lord could find for introducing his proposition at such a time. Was a great government to be overthrown by such an analogy ? He charged upon the home Government the initiative of all the measures which had brought so many calamities on India, and it was to shift the blame from those who deserved it that the present bill was introduced. He replied at length to the speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, disproving his statements as to the comparatively small importance of India to the empire, and as to the con duct of the men who first established our rale in that country. The great argument in favour of the proposed bill was, that it would bring to bear upon Indian mat ters the influence of public opinion through Parliamen• tary discussion. The very thing that Mr. Mill •depre• cated. There was no public opinion in India, and he denied that the people of England could have any influence in operating upon the legislature so as to make its action beneficial in the administration of the aff_sire of India. (Rear.) The whole argument upon this point rested upon a perfect fallacy. The same argument bad been employed with respect to the management of the affairs of our colonies. But what had bean the result ? Triers was once a Minister of England who was a man of eloquence, who was surrounded by able Mini store, by scholars and by wits—he was high in the ear fidence of his Sovereign, was popular in the country, and supported by immense majorities in b)th houses of the legislature. He adopted a policy which he believed to be in accirdance with the opinioas of the people of En laud, and he drenched the American soil with blood, and lost a magnificent country to his king. (Cheer'.) What did they see now I A proud republic stand on the ruins of an empire of which it was the conqueror. What had become of the Minister who brought about these results 1 He was classed among the men who, made giddy by ambition, mistook popular applause for the safe and guiding rules of policy in the administration of the affairs of a great country. (Cheers.) But it was said that the people of Eugland, in fact, appointed the Ministers of the Crown. Did they I What, all of thorn ? Thy made, perhape, the first Minister of the Crown, but what of the rest I He appealed to the hearts and consciences of tho:e, who heard him whether the arguments or statements of the Chancellor of the Exchequer on this point were founded on fact ? Were appointments even under the wholesome in fluence !and operation of a free House of Commons in a free country always those they could applaud! Were they always made in deference to the moral feelings, the enlightened opinion, the utility of the public service, the honour oft he Crown, or the advantage of the State! (Loud and repeated cheers.) Was the House of Com• mons satisfied in dealing with this question as men of business and common sense that it would be a safe thing to pass this bill ? This government had lasted a good time, no doubt it had. The noble lord at the head of the Government said that the change might be easily made, that we might destroy the Government gen'ly and at once without the least effort. He (Mr. White side) agr cad with him there. It was a law of the Almighty that the work of construction should be diffi cult and slow, but that the work of destruction was easy. The skill of the architect and the labour of a❑ age might erect the edifice, the labourer with his rude pick a3e could easily destroy its beauty. 'This building has stood for a long time. Let them strengthen its founda tiow, enlarge its basis, improve if they could the inhabi- tants of the building ; but he implored the house, while yet there was time, to stay their hand, and not upon the arguments they had heard overthrow the useful and venerable structure. (Loud and repeated cheering followed the close of the address of the hon. and learned member.) might appeal to the House of Commons and ask, what would they think of such a government for themselves ? They took a fraction of the people of England and erected a sort of aristocracy among them, giving a man a double vote because he had a double number of shares ! If the noble lord at the head of the Government, in his pro mised measure of Parliamentary Reform, were to propose anything of that kind for the people of England, he would coon be swept from.place, and every one of his supporters with him. Then, what was good for E: hand in this matter was good for India; and the very principle which rendered the Court of Directors a totally unfit body to govern England rendered them equally unfit to govern India. Then came the bill of Use noble lord, which contained among its provisions one Of infinite import ance. It did away with the government of India as at present constituted, putting in its place a Secretary of State. The great mistake of the measure was the Council of Eight, which it Froposed. The very principle which made the present government mischievous—viz,, divided responsibility, told against this council. (Hear.) More over, the noble lord said that the council would be corn posed of " Old Indians." That ciircnnastance greatly strengthened his objection to it, because in England at the present moment were to be found men far more capable of governing India than any" old Indian" what ever. (No.) No I He wanted to know, then, to whom the Company bad intrusted the concoction of their own petition. Was there not among them one of the most remarkable minds of the present day (Rear, hear.) Did he not lead his valuable aid in concocting that peti tion, whieb, marked though it was by many fallacies, still exhibited great mental power ? The author of that document was, he believed, far more capable of govern ing India than any "Old Indian." Therefore, as far as the concentration of responsibility upon a Secretary of State went, he entirely agreed with the noble lord ; and he entreated him to ,consider whether great mischief might not arise from the divided responsibility that must flow from the creation of this council. He knew the councillors would not vote. Still they would share the responsibility. He would be bound to say that if he lived long enough to see a Secretary of State for India ap pointed he would hear him declare at the table of that house that he had dome his best,and that he was quite of the same opinion as the council. The council would not have seats in that house—it would not be under their control. The Secretary of State might be, but it would be too late; he would exculpate himself by the opinion of his council, and the house would be bound to believe that being composed of "Old Indians" they knew some thing of India. That was a very dangerous principle— dangerous both as regarded the government of India and AS regarded the people of England. And were they to be frightened by the bugbear of patronage He was ashamed to think such an argument could be used on push a subject. Could it be supposed that the House of Commons would be diverted from its duty—thatit would be turned against the people of England by the appoint ment of a few cadets! WAS it not marvellous that sans men, grown men, men with beards ' should seriously retail the things which the house had heard last Friday! The civil appointments were to be :distributed by com petitive examination; and the only patronage to be retained would be the appointment of the cadets. Could not the bill provide for these things! Why should they not apply the sane principle to the selection or military cadets as to the selection of civil servants? If public com petition were good for the writers, who were the real go vernors of India, was it not good aloe for the cadets, who were the soldiers and defenders of that country, Suppose that for 500 cadetships there were 1,000 or 2,000 candi dates, would not the examiners select those who were most fit to go out to India ; and would not this most disc tuaily do away with all patronage ? The same result would not be accomplished by resting the patronage in these eight members of the Council ; on the contrary, it would make them great men in their station, and if there were any truth in the theory, that this patronage would corrupt the House of Commons, these eight gentlemen ought to govern England. He would never believe that any such thing would occur ; but he was decidedly of opinion that the best way to deal with this patronage was to throw it open to public competition. (Hear.) The best Home Government for India would be a Secre tary of State, who should choose his own advisers, and in whom all responsibility should centre. Sock a Secre tary of State would be selected by the Prime Minister, who was practically chosen by that house, which V:23 elected by the people ; therefore, in the last resort the Secretary of State for India would be appointed by the people of this country. Now, if there was any virtue in representative government, that was just the thing for which it was useful ; not that the peophs should govern themselves, but that they should choose their governors —not that they should do tee duties of the office of Prime Minister, but that they should choose a an who could do that duty, and should force him to do if. Such a man would be responsible to that house, and vroul I in the most effective manner bring to hair upon Vie Go. vernment of India the feelings and wishes of the people Of England. (Hear.) The second ground upon which the hon, gentleman had opposed this bill was that it might be a good measure, but that this wile not the proper time for it. That was the procrastinating argu ment. The hon. member for Guildford (`dr. Mangles) said there had been a great mutiny in India which was not yet put down, and therefore no change ought to be made. Why, that was the very reason for the change. The present state of things in India demanded an efficient Government, and therefore if the propo ed scheme of government would be better than the existing one, let it be at once adopts 4. But it was said tba; the Coms pany's Government in India had always favoured the Hindoos ; that the Hindoos had faith in the Company, and that the very parties who soneht for a change of government were desirous of proselytieng and Chris , tianising India. (Hear.) He had been quite startled to hear the statement that the people of Hindostan had confidence in the Government of the Company, because the Company had always opposed the extension of privi leges to the Hindoos, or the making them sharers in their own government. Everything which had been granted to the Hindoos had been granted in consequence of Parliamentary power, and every change for the bettor which had been made in their government had been the result of Parliamentary interposition. The East India Company strove to maintain their monopoly of trade, and did their ntmest to deprive the Hindoo and the half-caste of any share in the government. He maintained that the crisis at which affairs in India bad arrived did not inter fere with their calmness or judgment. A calmer house than tbat could not be found. The re was no exc i tement; there was no cry. The East India Company had pre sented a petition ; it had received the support of some hon. membere, and had been gravely debated. They were perfectly calm and collected about the matter; why, then, should they not decide upon it at once ? He begged and entreated hon. members not to shrink from their duty, not to be frightened by any cry of this sort, not to allow the foot of England to be placed upon the neck of India to crush her down like a despot's heel, when they had it in their power to spread peace, to npread good government, to spread happiness from the Himalayas to Cape Coin orin. (Hear, hear.) Mr. DUFF said the old system, as modified by repeated parliamentary influence, and the public opinion of this country, was not only most beneficial in action but lite becoming daily more and more benificaut in its acts. bie, however, gave a qualified approval of the He had wish to oppress India, but if they tho ug ht no such a measur e as this was required by the necessity of th e time they ought to carry it out with an iron hand. Mr. WHITESIDE agreed that this v , im portant discu ss i ons which had ever ' t in the e Briti s h House of Commons. Ahs destructi on h ad swept over Hindoetan natural that th e Pint Minister should hav 'a e a called nualirkeieeniato )felw ta upon haco seef Parlia ment to arrest the hurricane and strengthen twGicoevernment. the the bnaerkhdles loefrdt,heeeplenedcihan h rea n d e but lj a e l th h o a u il g could understand the principle of the bill, he could not d h t a h v e e pr e i x n p ci e p e l t e edo f tthhaetexti:eosnitoiobnl'ela(o&rdlasruoguhl.d) understand coulders ta a have attempted to show that the Company had been indolent, and had thwartedt India vernment in their end eavours to put down thaeomtoheeteGnyo: o f The noble lord, indeed, s p o k e ki n d ly whom he intended to destroy—(a laugh) —but his Fenppea4T, 'eed not ri3an to the height cf the occasion. He r,ted„ bat+ intuthers of his Government in favour of making the government of the East India Company great, strong, and respected. flow was it they were nut at that time aware of the Mr. LOWE said he thought that even those mem bers who were most enthusiastic in their °hearts of the bon. and learned member's speech must allow that it rather rested upon authority than argument ; and as be ('4r. Lowe) did not come down from the library armed with evidence he could not say how far the arguments sated by the honourable and learned gentleman bore upon the subject. Now, his (Ur. Lowe's) memory very greatly deceived Lim if the passage from Mill, quoted by the hon, and learned gentleman, was not addressed to the government of the Company subsequent to Mt. There was another authority which he (Mr. Lowe) would venture to quote. It was one which he was sore the hon. and learned gentleman would have no objection to. When the East India Bill came before the house before, Mr. Pninn moved—" That the Indian empire might be governed by her Majesty, her heirs and successors." That motion was negatived ; and amongst the minority was the hon, and learned member for Eaniskillee, (Laughter.) The aestneption which ran through the hon. and learned gentleman's speeoh and that of the hon. member for Huntingdon (31r. T. Baring) was evidently this—that the house was called upon to atabkoeotatvoe throw b y r o g w re o at ot a o n f d g m ea o r m o e u n r to l n o s di s a t o ep p , o t l h io rs y t j th o e s y t to w s e e r e e if they could put it in gear again. The way that India was managed was this : when the President of the Board of Control was of opinion that nay matter required to be a matter of secrecy he was allowed to frame a despatch which he sent to the Secret Committee of the East India Company, who took a solemn oath not to communicate that de. , patcb, or to remoistrate against it, but were bound to send it out as they received it. Now, he (Mr. Lowe) asked what amount of control or initiative that committee could have under such circum stances 1 In consequence of this state of things, he (Mr. Lowe) could not for his own part look upon the Court of Directors as deserving much blame or entitled to great praise, not because their intentions were not good, and their efforts often most earnest, but because they had been for the last 70 years deprived of the power of acting singly in any great matters. Film the manner therefore, in which business was transacted at the East India House, the directors exercised in the government of India no very important influence by their direct agency ; but he must add, that the indirect consequences resulting from the retention of the company were of a most serious nature, and called for immediate interf,r ence. Tiae effect of the Existence of the East India C imp2ny was to produce a fearful amount of delay. Tony boasted that they were an independent check upen any Minister. Now, he had shown the house that they were not a check upon his decisions, although they might justly say they were a clog upon him. The government of India was carried out in their name they were obliged to receive all de. spatches sent to this c untry, and through their bands had to pass all despatches transmitted hence. Ail who bad grievances were forced to apply to them in order that they might apply to the Beard of Control, which had then to refer them back, so as to comply with the forms of the East India House—forms which were peculiarly unfitted for providing for such matters as naval and military establishments, and the laying in of stores, and in the carrying on of a serious war amounted to a positive evil ; for although in questions of great magni tude the President of the Board of Control could issue his order to the Governor-General, without its passing through the East India Company, he could not make practical arrangements without their going through that channel. Allusion had been made to the Indian rail ways, but so far from blaming the Company for not having done more in this respect, he (Mr. Lowe) was surprised, taking into consideration the various proceed ings which had to be adopted, that they had ever suc ceeded in laying a sleeper. Let the house consider the stages through which a matter of that description had to pass. The East India Company, as they were aware, guaranteed a dividend, and, therefore, was obliged to control the expenditure. Well, the Company ordered a railway ; it bad first to pass before the railway board in India, anethen the railway board in England ; from them to the East India Company, to pass through all the forms of the India House ; from thence to the permanent secretary, and then to the Parliamentary secretary ; from him back to the President of the Board of Control, who then sent it hack to the East India House; and, lastly, the East India House sent out orders for its construction. The same remarks would apply to legal reform in India. Lord Macaulay's law commission was sent out to India in 180, and nothing had yet been done. It was true the petition of the Company alleged that it was on the point of being carried into effect when the mutiny broke out—that mutiny, by the way, was, he thought, very much like the fire in Caleb Balderstone's larder, for it served as a most oppor tune excuse for every deficiency. He did not, however, blame the Company for these things; but he thought that that house would be deeply blameable if, after thou, matters had been brought so prominently under its notice, it allowed a system is continue which was fraught with so muoh danger. Another great evil attaching to the East India Company was, that from the fact of the government being carried on in its name, the public supposed that it really was the Government, and the consequence was the Minister of the Crown was screenvd by that supposition; and this very obj e cti on th e p e ti• tioners themselves admitted when they said that they could not "conceive a worse form of government for India than a Minister, with a council which he is at liberty to consult or not at his pleasure, or whose advice he should be able to disregard without giving his reasons in writing, and in a manner likely to produce conviction ; and when they admitted further on that " any arrange ment of the council which will not be a check will be a C!, screen," hoelav en rye mightAs u t p pp supposed there s e s : s e de n t t tohme ak e w fo a r s no check at all, for the leg newspapers. In fact, announcementt e first crolin g a witness to testify to the.insufficienty if he mr.Lowe)ti o wm f eer a ein w d te a h : ei which mouornof. cowry bald in India was the only this cent spawn, he could in question aff,lrd not call a better than the petition of the pre-1 possession which' aped whic h the Qu." - ,en's name was not •,0 ti, fg 3 : v d t ,: a nir- _ ier ':.., and it was of all others' was abiolutely identirj government and monarchy conception of . for the p eop l e o f I nd i a had no nmy of 0. republic or a thing beyond the supra ,gy crown ; he regarded this exception, there-. fore, as most unfortunate. India abounded in noble families, some descended from the sun, others from the moon. (Laughter.) Those persons possessed great pride of birth and ancestry, and by way of conciliating them and reconciling them with our govern ment, we deprived them of the honour and gratification of feeling that they were the subjects of a sovereign whose ancestors had worn the crown of these isles 500 years before the reign of the Great Mogul, making them instead the vassals of a commercial joint-stock company. He was toll by a gentleman who bad much exp nonce in India that the notion they had of the Government under which they lived, was that India was a kind of farm leased by the Crown to the Company, and that the object of the latter was to squeeze as much rte it could out of it, and that gentleman's opinion coincided with that of Mr. Halliday, that nothing would be more cal culated to promote the interests of India than to place its government in the hands of the Crown. The matter, however, did not stop there ; they knew something of the past history of India, and need he point to the long catalogue of differences and bickerinee more or less vio lent between the servants of the company and the ser vants of the Crown. The mutiny which they were at present engaged in putting down was not the only mutiny which had occurred there. Every one recollected Sir 11. Fletcher'e conduct in the time of Clive, and that he and his associates did not consider themselves guilty of treason against the English Crown, but only against a commercial company to whom they did not own alle• glance ; and in the case of Gen. M'Doevell and Sir G. Barlow, which nearly led to the loss of the Deccan, tho troops were open the point cf declaring them selves independent of the government of Madras. , One case more which illustrated the inconvenience of the present system was this ; the East India Com pany might b' at war with a power with which the Queen might be at peace, incurring a heavy expense without involving the na te of the British Crown. (Hoar, hear.) As to the question of time, whether legis lation at the moment was convenient or proper, the hon. and learned gentleman bad quoted him (Mr. Lowe) against himself. On that account he must, however reluctantly, refer to the speech which he made in 1853 on tho resolution similar to the resolution now moved by the hon. memberte b n foroltheHuntingdon,e lord which was brought a r K br i o n u g g ' h e t Ly ft n 'r n (Lord wa rdbyStan h ley). Th e on l y o b servat i on i n member that speech on which the hon. gentleman could have anchored his remark was one in which he said that if the Government of India were to be continued in the Company, whose operations in arms and policy there had hitherto been successful, the governing body must be maintained respected and respectable, and he re peated the observation now as entirely applicable to the present circumstances. Of those who asked what would happen if the bill passes, he must ask what would occur it it did not pass ? The Company had been for a series of years in a state of gradual deterioration. In 1818 they lost their India trade; in 1833 they lost the China trade ; and when their commercial assets were gone they are but the shadow of their former self ; merely the first mortgagees on the revenue of India • or, rather were, compelled to l oo k t o a s i n ki ng fun d of 2,000,000/. which was now become 4,000,0001. or 5,000,0001. That course was not a wise one for the purposes of Govern ment. So long as it was their intention to govern India through the East India Company, so long ought they to have done everything to make that company powerful and respectable, being the trustees of ihe Queen for the exercise of the imperial prerogatives. But after these present debates had occurred, and the exposure of the system which would yet take place, and which would be read, as the hon. gentleman said, by the natives of India, what respect for the Company could still be entertained among the native princes or the native people. Let Parliament spars the Company's existence now if they would, India must feel that the sword of Damocles was suspended over the head of that body, and that the existence of that Company would be prolonged for a few months, or at the most for a few years. But when it was said that we should wait for a quiet time, he must ask them to consider that although the rebels who showed themselves in the field might be dis sipated and destroyed, they could not expect for years to have returned to that condition of peace which was referred to as the epoch of the proposed change. But the interference of Parliament was pio`nred as an evil, and the nccation of evils. He for one had no dread of the bugbear. He had himself been a British celoniet. He admitted to those who made a charge against the Imps. rial Government that there had been mismanagement of the colonies by the Celonial-office. But he made a dis tinction. The Colonial-office erred from ignorance. Some of these colonies were new and unknown; theyhad sprung into existence of a sudden, and so rapid was their continued growth, that a person who absented himself for five years, returned to see a new world entirely un known to him. Under these circumstances the Colonial Office were without the requisite information, and those who cams to London from any of them usually were brought by personal objscts, and gave one—hied infor mation. But with regard to India, the Minister could not desire to take proceedings in any of its corner'', but he would find in this country a man who, without a motive to bias hie communications, could give the reost accnrate an.l detailed information respecting it. Besides he must assure the house that nothing was so much desired in the colonies as the discussion of their case in Parliament at the time of that mismanagement. They need to say, half in bitter earnest, half in joke, that if they could only get up an insurrection, however small, they were certain of the attention of Parliament and deliverance from the evils which they suffered. The Indian Government was essentially a bureaucracy in principle, in which there was something good and some tbiog bad, and something which had outlived its day. But the characteristic of a bureatioracy was that itcould not reform itself. The insinuation contained in this petition against the house that it would be rash, violent ax l presimp'uons in its interference with the gneetrnment of India was repelled by the course which it had pursued in the case of the British colonies— (hear, hear) —for instead of retaining the power which the house might have exercised through the Colonial-office, they had, through the influence of such men as his lamented friend Sir William Moles worth, relinquished that power for ever by giving these colonies constitutions and the advantages of self-govern ment. He, in conclusion, expressed his trust that the conanaotions which new convulsed India would cease with the change which this bill proposed, and that the bill would be introduced into that country with An act of grace and A mnesty which might have had the happy effect of calming down the sanguinary excitement that still existed in that country. Mr. LIDDELL was not prepared to hand over to the Government of India to the nominees of the Crown. Ile strongly opposed the bill, both in principle and details. Mr. SLANEY supported the bill, admitting that the e r a number u t e m r b s e e r d government of the Company had dons much for the civilisation of India. But it had yet left India by its exations in a desolate and twetp:lns:dincwonhdicithionth,ewEhiacsht called f. )r reform and change. Mr. CRAITFURD thought, that the merchants of 0 found fault with the composition of the of a e s ig a ht c m om em pa b n e y rs of which it was to he esmposed. They would not be suffi pmlLrnoeodrnpindaobosanecnd to w s: .n e o r pu e anLinc ag g rieved yiwa nads of fc b ht y ha tient for the duties they would bnve to perform. The chief reason for opposing the bill was that it ought to have been preceded by inquiry before a committee. An yet the Noose was not in pesseesiou of sufficient infor mation. Sir H. RAyirLINSON would offer a f ew prac ti ca l observations, the results of thirty years' experience. He should not discuss all the particulars allulel to by the last s peaker, but should confine himself to the points actually before the b oase ; first, whether ' any change was required ; and, secondly, whether, if it was required, this was the proper time to introduce) it. The change, if any, must be twofold : the abolition of the doublegoveromentat home, and the proclamation of the Q'ieeo'e name i n I n di a. I f they would bear in mind or refer to the evidence before the committee which sat in 1852 and 1853, they would find in it a m ass of eviden ce condemnatory of the double government, which made it marvellous that such a system had existed so long, Its continuance could only be explained by an allusion made in another place by a member of Lord Aberdeen's Government, to the effect that the defects were admitted but it wad thought an a b r upt change would be dangerous, and so a partial im provement was first introJueed to break the fall of the c ompany. (A laugh.) It would be perhaps more agreeable and more graphic to state a few facts than to go into the general question ; he would cite two such facts—the constitution of the secret committee, and the relations of the Court of Directors to the Board of Con trol. It was generally thought that the company was responsible to the Government, and the petitions as sumed that ; but in fact for a large portion of the actual government it was not the company but the Board of Control who wore responsible. In the case of the Per- I sian war, the Courtof Directors were not indeed opposed to war, for they knew nothing about it till they read the printed despatches in the Parliamentary blue-books. Ho did not say whether this was right, but it was an anomaly to say that under such circumstances the com pany could be responsible. (Hear. hear.) Another point was, the relationd3ip which existed between the Court of Direetors and the Board of Centre). He should describe the gestatioo of a despatch from conception to parturition. The idea of a despatch was first conceived by one of those gentlemen whose fine Roman band was recognised in the petition. (A laugh.) The hon. gen tleman then described in detail the processes through which a despatch had te pass up to the period when it was sent out of this country. It was true that in a case of emergency all this could be simplified, but what was to bs thought of a system which, when the time of trial came, had to he superseded / It was a poor defence to say tha . ; it could be simplified, because if the flame results were obtained by the simple process what was the good of tie complications t He thought that when the system was abolished the only feeling enter tained on the subject would be one of astonishment that it had ever existed, Having considered the merits, or rather demerit?, of the Government at home, he came to the question of th e effects o f t h e c h ange i n India. With regard to the European community, with the excep - ion of .a few ex tlusivee the old civil servants of the company, no one would be otherwise than pleased with the change. Mr. Halliday, the vice-president of the Bengal province, bad given his opinion that much detriment resulted from the government being carried on in the name of the com pany. Officers in the army, and jedgee, were proud of being in the service of the Queen, and those under the company desired to be considered as in the service of the Crown. The natives had a strong feeling in favour of government by the Crown. Several other gentlemen also givers Crhe: •i . r.voc of Crown were brcu;n, thE: re• verence of the natives fur the Government. The result of his own experience in the military service of the com pany was that both the military and the civilians had him his committee of inquiry now, there would be an end of the matter. (A. laugh.) He should certainly bring on his motion to-morrow, unless he were given Friday. The debate was then adjourned until' to-morrow (this day). CLERKS OF PETTY SESSIONS (IRELAND) BILL. This bill was read a second time. CONSPIRACY TO MURDER BILL. The second reading of the Conspiracy to Murder Bill was postponed until Friday. PUBLIC HEALTH ACT (1848) AMENDMENT BILL. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he believed the objections to this bill would be Dore readily examined in committee than on the second reading. If the house would now consent to the second reading, be would name an early day for the committee. Mr. PALK said his objections were to the principles of the bill, and he should therefore very much prefer discussing the bili now to acceding to the request of the right hon. gentleman. Mr. LOCKE was sure that this bill bad become a Parliamentary nuisance, for he had attended night after night in expectation of the second reading and the dis cussion arising thereon, when he found it had been invariably postponed. The house ought to know whether it was to be preceded with or not. Lord PALMERSTON said that the bill did not deserve the character which the hon. gentleman had given it. It was a bill to remove a nuisance—(bear, and laughter)—to remove that state of disease which had occasioned a great loss of life. He hoped the house would not be led away by the vague observations of hon. gentlemen who wished to treat the matter as one of no importance, that they would come to the discussion without the prejudice that was attempted to be thrown over it. pride in belonging to the Indian service, but in all his experience he never heard of any feeling of reverence for the company, and all their aspirations were for honours from the Crown, from whence, in fact, all their honours were received. Provided the substantial rewards were continued, which he supposed, was the intention, the an nouncement of their having become a royal army would be received with great and general satisfaction. As to the effect on the natives, he thought that in ordinary times the effect on the lower orders, including the working classes, and the lower portion of the army, the change would not produce any appreciable eff ct. The natives were more amenable to individual and local influences than to the force of any abstract considerations. There was no such thing as natioeal feeling among the people of India, though there were feelings of caste and race ; but there was an extreme docility and susceptibility to local influence. The Scinde Horse, for instance, consisted of the most in flammable materials, high caste Hindola and Mussul mans, who, however, were kept faithful without a murmur, by the influence of the high character of General Jacobs, their commander. (Hear, hoar.) In the same Punjeub a similar influence was exercised by the confidence of the men in the justice, ability, and honour of Sir John Lawrence. It was impossible to over-estimate the power of individual influence among them, which had much more weight than any abstract principle of government. But as to the educated classes who were constantly reading Eng lish papers and were given to abstract questions, the case was different. They understood the difference between the company and the Crown—the only error was, that they were perhaps disposed to over-rate the power of the Crown, and to under-ra-e that of the company. The change would affect them according as they were loyal or disloyal. If loyal, they would like it as giving increased security ; if disloyal, they would dislike it as affording lees scope for agitation. As to the second question, whether change, if desirable, was so at the present time. Tho question of delay was specious and attractive. It would be agreeable—let, to those who objected to the bill on principle; 2dly, to those who approved of the bill on principle, but really thought this a bad time to introduce it ; and, idly, to those who bad not yet made up their minds. But he trusted the good sense of the house would triumph over these considerations. (Hear.) The reasons urged by the advocates of delay, in order to deter the Govern meat from legislating, were contradictory one to the other. Oa one side it was stated that the mutinous sepoys would consider the change of government a great triumph, whilst others were of opinion it would depress the natives if they knew they were to be handed over to the Imperial Government. He considered neither of the results would take place. If we had been driven out of the country the sepoys would have had some cause for congratulation, bat to find themselves in a worse position in having a strong Government substituted for a weak, would not, he thought, give them much cause for congratulation. They would find no change. The same officers who now acted against them would also act against them under the proposed change, with the ad • vantage of greater harmony and power than now from being members of the same service. (Hear, hear.) It had been said that the mutiny should first be put down and legislate after; but he considered it was not a mutiny, because there was no such thing as a body of mutinous soldiers banded together to oppose us. Series opposi tion was offered still in Robilcund, Central India, and Oude, but it partook more of the characteristic of civil war and revolt than mutiny, and means must be taken to re-establish our authority in those quarters by force of arms and what else was consistent with honour and dignity. He did not mean to say that thehiame of the Queen of England wou'd be sufficient for the restoration of peace and order, but it would do much towards effecting it. All the information he had received from India described that country as being in the utmost danger, for there was a great chasm between Europeans and natives that could not be bridged over. All that common ground by which the European used to approach the native and draw out his sympathies, and gain bis affections, had been cut away. (Hear, hear.) Mutual confidence was destroyed between theca, and what was worse, the natives know that the Europeans distrusted them. (ffear, hear.) He did not for a moment consider that the Queen's name would be every thing in that country, but he looked upon it as a great auxiliary for the restoration of peace and order. It would act as the basis of a new starting point, and cause them to look forward instead of backward. (Hear.) It was absolutely necessary that a number of changes should take place in the administration of India, which it was impossible to postpone for the sake of party, and wnich it was absolutely essential to our rule in that country, should be introduced at the present time, whe ther the bill was passed or not. The question of finance was one of the utmost importance. The reorganisation of the army was absolutely necessary. The tenure of the land was a matter of almost equal moment, and above all there was the system of administration which must now he reformed, and they should take advantage of these eccaeions to proclaim simultaneously or nearly so the Queen's name, with the inauguration of the new .yst.m. The effect of such a proceeding would bo not to alarm and depress the native mind, but to elevate and encourage it, an opinion in which he was borne out by Captain Meadows Taylor. The danger to result from the proposed change need not be extended. Three mouths had now elapsed since this subject was publicly announced, and it would be three months longer before the bill would be passed, and he maintained that if any danger was to be apprehended from its passing in India, they would be self-evident before it came into operation, , but such was not likely to be the case. If, however, they delayed proceeding in the change, and the bill was to hang for some time in committee, it would bare a pro judic'al effect. The power of the company's ( fficers might b 3 weakened by it in India, and disorganisation follow. In supporting the introduction of the bill,_ and deprecating delay, he must be understood as not committing himself to an unqualified approval of the bill. (Hear, hear.) There were many points he wished to see al•ered. He thought the pro posed number of councillors too limited for the adequate discharge of the duties of the board, and he should like to see the independence of the board better established, but whether it was to be obtained by the introduction o f the legislative element or not, he would not then stop to discuss. _ _ _ Sir G. PECHELL hoped that the bill which had been brought forward several times would have a day fixed for its discussion. It had thrown over the Conspiracy Bill that night, and he hoped it would last long enough to throw it over altogether. Mr. HENLEY thought that a day should be fixed for the bill. It contained 180 odd clauses, and several private acts were embodied in it. The bill was then postp,med till Friday. NATIONAL G-ALLE ftY. Lord ELCHO wimhed to ask lbe Chancellor of the Exchequer when he intended to proceed with this sub ject, which was one of great importance / Mr. WILSON said that the sul j ct would be post poned till Thursday next. The house adjourned at 20 minutes to one. LAW INTELLIGENGE.—(This Day.) HOUSE OF LORDS. (Peers prosent —The Lezd Chancellor, Lord Brougham, Lord Wensleydale, and other Peers.) Appeal cause appointed for hearing, and the Law Judges to attend. VERNON AND ANOTHER V. WRIGHT AND ANOTHER.- -.----. Sir J. WALSH thought that the double government brought together the local privileges of one set of mon, with the corrective decisions of another. This measure was introduced in deference to the clamour raised cut of doors against the double government. It would make the Indian administration, both here and in India, a mere party matter. Mr. A. MILLS objected to the double government, and therefore supported the bill, but cou'd not consent to regard it as a bill of indictment against the company. He could not admit the reasons alleged for delay, as he could not see when those delays were to cease. Mr. WYLD could not agree that the renewal of the East India Company's charter had been a condonation of their past shortcomings. The great defect of the pre sent system was that it was a double government. The Vice-President of the Board of Trade (klr. Lowe), how ever, had denied that there was any double government, and had asserted that there was au autocracy on the part of the Board of Control. If that were so, and the monarch of Cannon-row were the real governor of India, then the Court of Directors was but a screen to cover hie errors. His (Mr. Wylu'e) objection to the pre sent system was that it was unfitted for the requirements of the age. The bill of Mr. Pitt constituting the double government was passed at a time when our possessions in India wore comparatively limited in extent, and had that statesman survived to witness the present enlarge ment of our empire, he would never have agree d t o so uneatislactory a form of administration. It must be remembered, too, that our interest in India was continually increasing. The Rus'ian war had been undertaken in great part to check the aggressive de slgas of that power in the East, and the recent Per sian war had been commenced with a similar inten tion. No movement in Asia could take place without affecting imperial interests, and therefore he deemed it to he most desirable that some legislation should take place upon this most important subject. (Divide.) Mr. D. SEYMOUR argued that the government in India had of late been improved and simplifi• d, and it behoved them to make corresponding simplifications in our Indian uvernment. The natives mere eager for the propoeed change, and any alarm they might feel would be set at rest by the discussions which had taken place in that and in the other House of Parliament. He be lieved that the proposed change would encourage the settlement of Europeans in India. Ma. ADAMS could not find one sufficient reason for the destruction of a Government which had lasted so long. The single objection he could lay hold of was this, that Cannon-row was at some distance from Leadenhall street. If its proceedings were roundabout, the same might be said of many departments of the Government itself. Had the management of the Company presented the same deficiencies as were shown by the management of the Government in the Crimea I Why, the language of praise bad been well nigh exhausted in the terms by which the conduct of the Company daring the late crisis had been spoken of. The sepoys, who received only such impressions as those about them chose to convey, would be open to the most false impressions when they found that those against whom they had risen bad been put down by the strong hand of the Government. The Com pany, after having gone so far in the repression of the revolt, ought to have the honour of completing it. On every ground the present was an inopportune time for the proposed change. Mr. ELLIOT sa;d that the delays in the proceedings of the douhle Government were not greater than those in the Treasury and Colonial-office. Lie thought that no thing would be more injurious to India than constant discussions in that house, where the majority of the mem bers knew nothing about the matter, and where intem perate speeches would be made which would be trans ferred to the native papers in India. C 1. SVIKE moved the aej iurnment of the debate. Lord PALMERSTON said if the 'notion was pressed ho Must accede to it ; but the debate s if adjourned, must be continued to-morrow (this day), whoa he hoped that a vote would be taken upon it. to-morrow Mr. GO c G r 4 A e s N d a m y ) u , s a t sophpeobseadthte debatehefirs t beingmotion ew on re o n n ed the paper, which ho had been trying for two years to bring forward. (Laughter.) Col SYKEpersistee in moving the adjournment of the debate. The SPEAKER then put the question, and the house I divided. The numbers were— lIXPARTE AS TO lIERTAIN RESPONDENTS. The further hearing of this important appeal cause was resumed this morning in presence of their lordships of the House of Lords and the Law Judges, Mr. Justice Coleridge, Mr. Baron Watson, Mr. Justice Crowder, Mr. Baron Channel!, and Mr. Justice Crompton. Mr. Swanson, Q.C., followed on the same side with the Attorney-General in opening the case for the appel lant. It is expected that the hearing of this appeal will occupy the whole of the day. .This appeal arises out of a suit in Chancery by the Teeponcient William Wright, who by his bill seeks to re cover in the form ofan equitable ejectment certain lauds and hereditaments which have been allotted is respect of two undivided third parts of the estates formerly belonging to the Sam well family ; and the principal question upon this appeal is the construction and effect of certain limi tations contained in each of the wills of two testatrixes, named Frances Ann Langham and Phillis Lang. ham, whereby these ladies disposed of their respec tive undivided third parts of the Sam well estates, which had descended to them as two of the co-heiresses of tbeir uncle, Sir Thomas Samwell, Bare., thereafter called Sir Thomas Samwell, the testator, and which estates were then subject to the then existing limitations affecting the same, under the will of the late Sir Thomas Samwell, the testator of his estates in the county of Northampton and elsewhere, in favour of their relations. Tne will is dated Ist November, 1778. The testator died in the month of December, 1779. Sir Thomas, the testator, left his four nieces, Millicent Langham, who, during his life, married William Drought, Maria Lang hare, and the testatrix Frances Ann Langham, and Philis Langham, his co-heiresses at law. In 1793 Maria died intestate. The testatrix Frances Ann Langham made her will will 12th April, 1827, in favour of her relations. His Honour the Vice-Chancellor Sir R. Kindereley made a decree, dated 33 Aug., 1854, declaring that Francis Ann Langham, Philis Langbans, and Col. Samwell, on the death of each of the testatrixes, took an undivided third part (being two undivi led thirtis of the whole) of the estates descendable on the heirs of Sir Thomas Samwell, the grandfather, by Mary, his second wife, &c. This decree is now appealed from. The appellants claim the estates in fee simple, instead of an estate tail. _ Mr. G'aase, Q.C., was being heard for the reepon , dents. Counsel in the cause—The Attorney-General, Mr. Swanson, Q.C., Mr. Glasse, Q.C., Mr. Henderson, Mr. Smythe, Mr Surridge. The appeal cauee of the London and South-Western Railway Company against Lindsay is appointed for hear ing before their lordships after the previous appeal cause of Vernon agalest Wright is disposed of. COURT OF BANKRUPTCY. (Before Mr. Commissioner Evans.) tN RE EDWARD RALDWIN-TEIE " MORNING HERALD," &O, -ZUDGMENT ON PETITIONS. His Honour gave judgment this morning on two petitions—one presented by Mr. E. Foss, and the other by Mr. Chas. Baldwin, who both claimed as mortgages over the copyright er the Morning Herald, the Standard, and Si. James's Olaronicl, newspapers. of which the bankrupt had been proprietor. The faces were these— the first mortgage was made is 1350, but the whole of the property was allowed to remained in possession of the bankrupt, and the business was carried on apparently as usual, till June, 1856, when the bankrupt called a meeting of his principal creditors, and he laid a settlement of his affairs before tht in, and they were then isformed of the existence of the mortgages in question. 0,, ly five creditor° attended the meeting, two of them being Foss and Bald win, and it did not appear that any notice had been given to the other creditors. The bankrupt, at the time, signed a declaration of Insolvency ; from that time up to Feb. 18, 1357, the bankrupt, as far as the public) were concerned, carried on business as before, and contracted many new debts. On Feb. 16 a creditor issued an execution, and the Sheriff levied, and remained in possession till the 19th, on which day the bankruptcy to As. place, the act of bankruptcy being the declaration of insolvency he had signed in the meeting, the quedion which had been raised in the case, was whether the property was in the order and dispo sition of the bankrupt, and consequently, that the sum of 16 0001, for which the property had been sold, be longed to his estate, and ought to be held by the assignees. His honour quoted a variety of cases, and concluded by observing that the meeting consisted of a very small number of creditors and was private, and no notice had been given to the general body, and he could not say that there was any evidence to show that the property was not in the order and disposition of the bankrupt, and. therefore the petitions must be dis miesed. POLICE INTELLIGENCE.— (This Day). BO W-STREET. PosT-Ornos ROBBERY. A. letter-carrier, named Carrel, was placed at the bar, charged with stealing a quantity of small packets and letters entrusted to him for delivery. From the evidence it appeared that, owing to certain suspicions, the prisoner was taken into custody by Sines, one the constables attached to the Post-office, and on his person two small packets were found. They bad been transmitted from the country to parties residing in London, and ought in due course to have been delivered. There was also found a letter and part of an envelope. On searching the pri soners lodgings a quantity of photographic portraits in cases was found. Some of the cases bore a mark, supposed to have been made by the hot sealing-wax, used in closing the letter. As some of the parcels had not been opened, the persons to whom they were ad dressed now attended. Mr. Francis of Great Russell-street, Bloomsbury, opened cne of the packets found on the prisoner, ad dresst,d to him, in the presence of the magistrate. It contained an achromatic lens worth about two guineass, It was the property of Dr. Corrie, of Belfast, who had transmitted it for_ alteration. Mr. W. Hutchinson, Dammtreet, Islington, also opened a packet. - It contained a photographic portrait. The prisoner, who did not deny the charge of stealing the letters, was fully committed for trial. MA RLBOROUGET-STREET. ASSAULT ON TELE POLICE EY A CADUAN.—James Reale, cabman, No. 4113 - badge, was this morning charged before Mr Bealon with being drunk, and inca pable of taking care of his horse and cab, in Little Brook-street, and assaulting the police. Policeman 336 A said he saw the prisorteir on his oab box between 8 and 10 o'clock yesterday evening quite drunk. His horse was drawn across the road, and he was totally unable to take care of it. With the assistance of two ge-f16,,1en passing at the time sit„yie,;is got him off the tie , str.qe, :pit❑ t! le breei, , ., and Lcomiug e.e-eediogly violent, tried all he could to'throW hen down, and at length succeeded ; when, being himself pulled down by witness, who had kopt his hold, he seized him by the teeth and bit his armlet from his wrist. Witness was obliged to send for assistance, during which time he continued very violent, and toAt no less than four constables to convey him to the station. The deferdact &aid it, answerhe was sorry ; One month to Roue of Correc:iun and hard labour. For the adjournment 2BO T EE O FF/ cut, TELEGRAMS.—Is there no one who -- Against it ffil--.jority —24B The last tells us that " Abryule is keeping a sharp look Lord PALMERSTON appealed to the hon. gentle- out for them",;the Dacca mutineers). Without denying man opposite (Mr. Grogan) to forego the motion which t tha terrific significance of the 07421 C ignotum in this „.,,,,,: iz , y, „..,,„,1.-. L , ~.,, Lu o T row.„ a.:ri in that ca, - 0 the m m solidanneutic:Dent, it .ay a more satt,iactwn to the 1.;; , , - . .:.;Abfx s:or 1.i.v , .::ii . :. , e. ..v6u1.1 r;rel - ,, - :.biy fohuw Lis public to Inow that " ALrytilo". is probably Mr. Yui:s. exainple, eyeing the impoitance of bringing the debate the energetic Commissioner of the Bbaugulpore division. on the present bill to a conclusion as speedily as possible. Carelessness about names is not always so harmless as Mr. GLtOGAN said that if the noble lord would give in the present case. THE SEA SERPENT. The following letters have been addressed to the Edit )r of the Times:— Sir,—Observing in your paper of yesterday's date a letter from a correspondent relative to the marine animal com monly galled the sea serpent, in the concluding paragraph of which he mention, that he has no doubt the object sees from Her Majesty's shipDndalus in the month of August, 1848, when on the passage from the Cape of Good Hope to St. Helena, was a piece of the same seaweed observed by himself, I beg to state that the object seen from Her Ma jesty's ship on that occasion was, beyond all question, living animal, moving rapidly through the water against a cross sea, and within five points of a fresh breeze, with such velocity that the water was surging under its chest as it passed along at a rate probably of not less than 10 miles per hour. Captain M`Quhae's first impulee was to tack in pursuit, ourselves being on a wind on the larboard tack, when he reflected that we neither could lay up for it or overhaul it in speed. There was nothing to bo done, there fore, but to observe it as accurately as we could with our glasses as it came up under our lee quarter and passed away to windward, at-its nearest position being not more than 200 yards from us ; the eye, the mouth, the nostril, the colour, and form all being most distinctly visible to us. We all felt greatly astonished at what we saw, though there were sailors among us of 30 and 40 years'. standing, who had traversed most seas and seen mazy marvels in their day. The captain was the first to exclaim, " This must be that animal called the sea serpent," a conclusion which, after sundry guesses, we all at last settled down to. My impression was that it was rather of a lizard than serpentine character, as its movement was steady and uniform, as if propelled by fins, not by • any undulatory power. It was in sight from our first observ ing it about ten minutes, as we were fast leaving one ano ther on opposite tacks, with a freshening breeze and a sea getting up. I feel, Sir, I have already occupied more of your time and space than is justifiable, and have the honour to re main your obedient servant, AN OFFICER or H.M.S. DAWALIIII. Feb. 13. Sir,—A letter appears in the Times of to-day, signed " Frederick Smith," on the subject of the sea serpent. The writer has this advantage over others who have re ported the occasional appearance of what he fairly eal ll " this queer fish"—that he has handled as well as seen it. Still there would seem to be a conbiderable variety in the genus, for, while the specimen obtained by the Pekin in 1848 was 4 inches in diameter and 20 feet in length, that seen from the Circassian is described, if I remember rightly, in your paper of the 4th inst., as 10 feet or 11 feet in diameter, and upwards of 200 feet in length. In this latter instance it was seeing only, and but a pees' ing sight; and testimony of this kind is just that which naturalists may be slow to receive as evidence of any new fact; nevertheless, the practised vision of the Circassian'a commander should go for something, and as it would ap pear from the following letter that Captain Harrington is to be in town next week and ready to answer any ques tions, it might be worth the while of some of our philo sophers to examine a little into the question of what Captain Harrington and his officers really did see. I have the honour to be, Bir, your most obedient servant, W. A. B. HAMILTON. Blackheath, Feb. 12. "14, Sour.. Castle-street, Liverpool, Feb. 8. Dear Sir,—l am in receipt.. of your favour of the 6th of February, and should be glad if my communication to the Times might be instrumental in dispelling many doubts respecting the existence of such a monster as that described by myself and officers. " I communicated it to Captain Schomberg, of this place, in the course of conversation, who advised We by all means to s en d a co py o f it t o th e Times. , Notwithstanding the assertions of men of science t?. the contrary l am now sure th a t suc h an i ma l s exist. 1, could no more b e d ece i ve d th an ( as a seaman ) I c ools mistake a porpoise for a whale. If it had been at a great distance it would have been different ; but it WO not above :A yarls from the ship. " I am of opinion that this animal makes its appearance at the surface at long intervals only. I am informed 13 1 Messrs. Lamport and Holt, shipowners of this place, that one of their captains reported a similar thing about two years ago, off the Island of St. Helena ; but they took no further notice of it, supposing, as your friends seem to do, that he might have been deceived "Twenty people, including Mrs. Harrington and mJ two officers, saw it as distinctly as I now see the gas light which lam writing by. lam well known in London! having commanded a steam transport during the Rusell' a war belonging to the North of Europe Steam Navigation Company. " Captain Claxtoa, R.N., of the Priory, Battersea, le personal friend of mine. I am also well known to sir Colin Campbell, who i s now i n th e E as t . My present . h i g is 1,061 tons new measurement, and a new ship, of whi° I own a good part myself. There are therefore many re s : sons (in addition to my holding a first-class certificate il l the mercantile marine) to hinder me from propagating : report which can do me no good, and, if untrue, do Wu', to science in the room of assisting it to elicit the truth is so important a matter as the discovery of the inhabitan ts of the deep. " I shall be in town for three or four days in the earl) part of next week. A letter addressed to me at the Jell; salem Coffee-honse will meet with attention and, if , 133 an 4, limited time permit, I s h ou ld b e g l a d t o h ave interview with yours e lf, or any o f your f r i en d s w h o m i g h t wish ,0 have a verbal explanation in this matter. " I have the honour to remain, sir,- " Your obedient servant, " G. 11. ITARRINGTOI f• "To Rear•Adrairal W. A. B. Hamilton." Country Markets. NORWICH—FEB. 1;, Thore vas a shorter supply of wheat to-day. b•si u ni P i r fully supporting l as t wee k' s rates, find inferior 1 1 to higher, with a fair sale. A limited supply of iparley) prices may be quoted is dearer for all kinds. tag t• White wheat, 48e t o 60 4 ; re d, 42 e t o 46. ; barlsj. 415. ' • flour, 3.4 to --1 per sack ; beans, 42. to 441; P . i ' 42s to Us. NOTTINGHAM—FI3. Is. Wheat in better condition to-day, and the market W. ll supplied, with a good attendance. Good qualities as* changed, inferior at a advance of ls to 2s per qr.; e r white samples making 54s and red Os per 36 stone. -Pf ley in tolerable supply, a nd 6 slow demand ; good ma ltill* qualities Os per qr. Oats and beans unchanged. CHELMSFORD—Pi m. 12. .._ l i n gitea The wheat trade to-day was in a rather e1. 4 7.,11, !tats, at about the rates of last week. Spring corn L 1 Wheat, white, old, p er s . a . .I. 29 qr. 45 51 Oats, per qr....—. .-- 44 43 I new 45 51 Pea., Partridge ..... ... 4 0 4 2 red, old 42 46 White ............ 33 , 4, new 40 46 Boiling ......... ) 10 Barley 34 40 Dun ...............3 i !.. Chevalier 33 44 Beans, Tisk ...... : .... . 36 ,i p o v Grinding 23 32 Halt 70 73 Chevalier 72 73 D MH i t i zrr t a o c i wan n t. : ..k : ........ 51 COLCHESTER— FAL 13. An active trade in corn to-day, And the traneactil in wheat must be quoted at an au vance o f is Pe r u 4 is Barleys maintain their price, but o th er carts no t muc h demand. Beans and peas as before. A , to toj . Prices to-day were a s f o l low : —Wh ea t , p. red, 42s to 465; barley, 36 s t o 43 s ; oa t s , Ks to 301 ; : 6 Mazagan, 31s to . l6el j middle and small, 36s to 40s; P. white, 40s to 425; grey, 40s to 425. Official Statement of the Quantities of C or n, So., frii7lo in the port of London, from th e following Po . '" Feb. 7 to Feb.l3, both inclusive. V ▪ .. ' -3 A i g . 4 o p. , A....- - - _ _ 3 59 Colchester 7O 90 186' --•..-- 50 Harwich —94 (.1— — 4 -- -- Leigh Mahlon .41. 88,225 ,00 77 $ 46 61.1.1_,... - . DALKETTH GRAIN MARKET—Psi. 11. of Qrs. • Best. Current. ' I llf.t 0j 795 Wheat 47s 6d 361 Od 13: - 0 Oats 293 Od 23s 3d ..... .; . VA o d 667 Barley 34s 6d 2 78 Bid .......... .2 3 ` el 138 Peas & beaus 39s Od HADDINGTON GRAIN MARKET—FS*. 11 0. wuRAT. I DA RLE y OAlg. 1 4 1 3 g i rod First 48s Od 32$ 61 30s 011 I ga Secondld i 37 Ad 403 2d 1 29s 2d 26 ' 34 v Third 331 6,1 1 25s Otl :03 01 1 old Toted quantity of wheat in market, 688 (111., 6 77 sold It ,s barley „ 597 gm; tS, A o ld 770 qrs., 0 1 7 0 0 17 IP oats ,) 200 qrs., 1 61- beans .. It PIP AVERAGEpIMErRIAL QUARTER• i'lgibl Wheat, .2/. 0 2 9-12 the 1 Barley, ...11. 2 2 1 12 0 0 Oats, ... li. 6 1 9 . l2ths 1 Beans, .....11. 17 9 W."— KIRKCALDY—FEL 13. leo We had good supplies of grain to day of all kinder Ss ready at about th e ra t es o f l as t wee k. i twang'', Wheat. Barley. 1 Oats. 0 , Co First 4Bs Od 30: 01 i 25s Ad 1 o s 01 Second 4!s Od 27s Od INo OdI ) 1 Os " Third 34s ed 22s 01 j 19s 00_!......0 IRTHS. s D ad -- , y On Lo th u e isa l4 u th ill i ß o n n s , t. o , f a s t 6 5 0 7 n, Upper Seyrno , " . " . treat the L of HUNTER—On the 13th i ns t., at Ramsgate, th e 1"(0 Lieut.-Colonel W. o il f tl a n s te Hunter of a daughter. Lunciarr--- On the llth'inst . , at 5, Leinster-streeto the Lad KING—On the 13th i ns t., a t 239, Upper Th anle--sir s et 7 OD. Mrs. John King, of a daughter. MARRIAGES. t ae SHAW — CHEETHAII—On the 11th inst at Ceei d le Church, Thomas Shaw, Esq of St. Chad "I W O worth, to Emily, s econ d daug hter of David Che 6 Esq., of the Priory, Staley-bridge. h hur cli VANE—DTTNSTAN—On the 11th inst., at the P ar L atr 41- 4 4 of of Biot u l e y St. Leunaici, Edward Marriott Stepney, to Jane Roars Dunstan, of Bromley. DEATHS. a10 31311 ' AREOWBMITH—On the 13th inst., William Ar re- lOW M.R.C.S., youngest son of Charles Arrow of Burton-crescent. the ARDILL—On the 10th inst., at 73, Harcourt-streeouti Rev. Richard Ari Jill, A.M., of Johnstown -hello , ° Dublin, and rector of Kilternan, aged 56. Wilt/, BANNISTER—On tlia 6th ingt., at Warminster, John 13anuister, Esq., aged SO. g 110 3 S KEEN—On the 14th inst., Job Keea, Esq., of - Villas, Horn-lane, Chigwell, Essex. aged hipl„.others MMON—On the 12th inst., at the residence of v" Putney-heath, Alfred Moxon, Esq., aged 3 6 . r or OLIVIER—On the 12th inst., th e R e v. D. 3 of Clifton, Beds, aged 68. • of No, 112, Strand, Printer, st j Ths Su* ? /fic : o ' o l / I'm 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy. in ° - Of Middlesex, Tuesday, February 16, 1858'