The Press.
London, England, 1855-09-01 00:00:00

ITALY.

A Muratist proclamation is said to be extensively
circulating in Sicily. It is added that one phrase
used in it, by Prince Murat is, "The hour is come
for the people to rise. I will not impose myself
upon them, but I declare myself ready to answer
their call."

The French general in Rome having given per-
mission, according to instructions received from the
Minister of War, to the troops under his command
to volunteer for service in the Crimea, so many men
stepped out of the ranks, on the invitation of their
several commanding officers, that the chie; difficulty
wai which to select, the number of volunteers to be
accepted being limited to fifteen men per company.
About 500 men thus chosen left Rome for the seat
of war some days since, and their places will be tilled
up by recruits from France.

SEPT. 1, 1855.

TURKEY.

All the disposable French troops have been shipped
from the Bosphorus to the Crimea. Nine hundred
Russian prisoners arrived at Constantinople on
the 20th.
Lord Stratford de Redcliffe left Therapia on the
22nd tilt. for Balaklava, to conduct the Investiture of
the Bath.
Omer Pacha was still at Constantinople on the
23rd of August.
The sound of cannon and the cries of the watch-
man about ten o'clock on the evening of the 28th
ult., announced the breaking out of a great fire in
the quarter of Psamatia. A great number of shops
and habitations were burnt before the conflagration
could be arrested.
AUSTRALIA.

Advices from Melbourne of the 10th, and Adelaide
of the 25th of June have reached Ceylon.
The barque Catherine Sharer, from London to
Hobart Town, was burnt whilst at anchor off Port
Esperance on the Bth of June. She had about nine
tons of gunpowder on board, and blew up next
morning. All hands saved. The mail was found
about two miles distant, torn open by the explosion.
For a period of many weeks a most unwonted state
of inactivity had prevailed in the mercantile and
trading affairs of Australia, the natural consequence
of the excitement that existed in the years 1852,
1653, and 1854. But though business transactions
have been less active than in those eventful years,
the soundness of the commercial community has
been severely tested, and it has come out of the
ordeal comparatively unscathed. There were nume-
rous cases before the Insolvent Court, but none of
them of any magnitude ; and the colonists were
looking forward to a renewal of healthy intercourse
with the mother country. Stocks of nearly all kinds
had got low, and new consignments, if prudently
made, were likely to meet with ready sale at remu-
nerative prices. The colonial trade would, it was
believed, ere long resume a more healthy ap
pearance.
' About five miles of the Sydney Railway have been
completed (line to Parramatta), and a trial trip took
place in the presence of the governor. The rolling
plant, manufactured in England, is represented as of
the best description, and the works on the line of
first rate engineering construction.
The new Bishop of Sydney, the Right Rev. Dr.
Barker, bad arrived, and been most cordially re-
ceived by the clergy and laity.
The political affairs of the colony were not in a
satisfactory state. The budget of the Colonial
Secretary for 1855 showed a deficit of 800,0001., and
a proposal for additional taxes in the shape of a
stamp duty at ten per cent. ad valorem on all im-
ported goods at present free, had been defeated in
the Legislative Council by a resolution that no addi-
tional taxes should be imposed this session. The
re•sult would be the stoppage of a great portion of
the public works, although an opinion prevailed that
what was needed was not this, but a reduction of
lavish Government expenditures.
INDIA.

The overland mail has brought letters and jour-
nals from Calcutta to the 17th, Bombay to the 30th,
and Hong-Kong to the 10th of July.
By this mail intelligence has arrived of a serious
insurrection in the heart of Bengal. The Santals
and other tribes occupying the Rajmahal hills have
suddenly burst upon the plains, carrying tire and
sword in every direction. Though it is said to be a
general rising of the hill tribes, the Santals ate de-
scribed as the chief actors in this hostile movement.
The Times correspondent at Calcutta thus describes
the event:—
These men, who are always understood to be one of the
aboriginal races of India, were invited by our Government
some twenty-five years ago to settle in the valleys of the
hills, and cultivate that rich soil. The district occupied
by them id usually denominated the Damin-i koh, and
has for the last fifteen years Is en under the superinten-
dence of Mr. Pontet, an uncovenanled officer, a man of
the highest administrative ability and the most benevolent
disposition. When he took charge of the Derain he found
no more than 3,000 Santals settled there. Under his
auspices the population increased in thirteen years to
83,000. That such a tribe, who owe all their prosperity
to the exertions of Government and its officers, and who
were surrounded with plenty, shoal(' have risen in arms,
breathing vengeance against us and our institutions, is in-
comprehensible. The ingurgents are not ruthless plun-
derers, but a race of hardy, bold, and industrious agricul-
turista, and this circumstance renders it more difficult to
comprehend the movement. Some have asserted that they
were pressed into service, and not paid by those who were
employed in constructing the railroad through their coun-
try, and that the immediate occasion of the outbreak is
similar to that of the insurrection at Cabul—the violence
offered to their women ; but the railway officers, who have
been the severest sufferers by the insurrection, most posi-
tively deny having either oppressed the men or insulted
the women. And the fact that the rebellion must have been
planned for many months, and presents all the appearance
of a complete organisation, is sufficient to contradict the
assertion. At present the most probable cause appears to
be a spirit of religious and political fanaticism which has
broken out among them. It is believed that their god has

THE PRESS.

taken human form, and that they are commanded by a
divine autnority to expel the Europeans from India and
seat him upon its throne.
The number of the insurgents is variously stated at
from 30,000 to 50,000, divided into four of five parties.
They have burst upon the three districts of Bhagulpore,
Moorshedabad, and Beerbhoom. They are armed with
peculiarly formed axes, brightly polished, and bows and
arrows (the latter poisoned), and a few muskets. ltiothing
was so little expected as such an outbreak; the Hillmen
appear suddenly to have spread themselves over a country
of more than 100 miles in extent, vowing the death of
every European, burning down houses, and destroying
property. The Hon. Ashley Eden, the joint magistrate at
Aurungabad, has contrived to collect 200 armed men, with
whom he is holding out against a large body of the insur-
gents, said to exceed 10,000 =en, and it is hoped that lie
will be able to hold out till relieved by the troops march-
ing to his aid. Mr. Mudge, employed on the railway, has
written to Mr. Eden, that having plenty of guns and
ammunition, he intended to make a stand at Pakoar; a
subsequent letter stated that the number of insurgents
marching on Pakoar exceeded 12,000, but the troops were
expected to reach it before the attack. The magistrate of
Ilhagulpore, and Mr. Pontet, and the Europeans from the
surrounding country, have intrenched themselves at Raj.
muhal, where they will doubtless be able to maintain their
ground till the arrival of the Hill Rangers from Bhagulpore.
The firm attitude maintained by this handful of Europeans
appears to have checked the progress of the enemy, and it
is therefore conjectured that they will not steed a shock
with our regular troops. There can be no doubt that
several Europeans have been murdered. Two ladies, Mrs.
Thothas and Miss Pell, who were travelling in palanquins,
fell into their hands and were barbarously massacred.
It is reported that the Santals have surrounded Jung)pore,
and vow they will sack Moorshedabad.
The most energetic measures have been taken to bring
up troops to quell the insurrection. Bengal has been in
profound tranquillity for so long a period that there were
scarcely more than 1,000 troops within a range of 150
miles of the scene of revolt when it broke out. As soon
as information reached Berhampore, Mr. Toogood, the
magistrate, made a requisition for troops on the com-
mandant, and a wing of the regiment started with him,
and by the last account was within eight miles of one of
the enemy's incampments. There is, therefore, every
reason to believe that the insurrection will be speedily
quelled, but not without great destruction of property and
great loss of life.
CHINA.

Shanghai advices ere to the 29th ult. The rebels
in the northern provinces appear to have been de-
feated at various points; but these reports, drawn
from the Peking Gazette, are not to be relied on.
Around Shanghai all was quiet.
At Canton affairs have somewhat improved, and
inland transit appears to be safer than before.

The rebels ar-e.said to have been driven from the
towns they lately captured, and the road to Shanghai
from the tea districts was thus reopened.
INSURRECTION IN SAI3BACIEE.

Later accounts from the West Coast of Africa have
been received by the mail steamer Candace, which
left Lagos on the 22nd of July, Cape Coast Castle on
the 25th, and Sierra Leone on the 3rd ult.

On the 17th of July the natives of Sabbagee, a
town within the territory of the British settlements,
on the River Gambia, broke out into open rebellion.
The affray arose in consequence of a man of the
name of Fodey Ansumana, who was living at Sab.
bagee under the British protection, having, accom-
panied by an armed party of seven or eight men,
gone to Jeswong—a village also within the British
territory—and there forcibly seized and carried away
a man and his wife, and keeping them in irons at
Sabbagee. The husband succeeded in making his
escape to Bathurst, and lodged his complaint before
the magistrates, who issued a warrant for the appre.
hcnsion of Fodey. The magistrates, being aware
that Fodey was a lawless character, and supported by
the Maraboos, wrote to the governor, soliciting a
military escort to assist the constables. The governor,
on their application, sent a small military force to
support the civil power. On their arrival at Sabha
gee the constables tried to take Fodey prisoner, when
his supporters attacked them, fired upon the soldiers,
and drove them back, wounding Lieut. Armstrong
seriously in the right arm (which has since been
amputed), and making prisoners of two of the
soldiers. On the afternoon of the same day the
natives of Sabbagee, joined by the Maraboos of Goun
jore and Burfort, burned and destroyed the English
villages of Jeswong, Cotto, and Baccon-conco.
His Excellency the Governor, Lieutenant-Colonel
O'Connor, immediately mustered his small forces,
which, with the assistance of the militia, numbered
only 260 men and officers, and proceeded to Cape St.
Mary's, in the hope that by prompt measures the re-
bellion might be quelled. The natives, however,
bad collected in large numbers, and waylaid this
small party on their march from the Cape to Sab-
bagee, in the bush, about a mile from that place,
where, after fighting for two hours, the British
troops were driven back with a loss of :30 killed
and 4:3 wounded. Amongst the former was Cap-
tain T. Degriney of the Gambia Militia, and of
the latter, his Excellency the Governor O'Connor,
who received two wounds in the right 111131, and
one in the shoulder. The rebels, joined by the

Maraboos, and emboldened by their suooess, took
possession of the road between Bathurst and the
military quarters at Cape St. Mary's, and threat ened
to invade Bathurst. Fortunately, the natives of the
towns of Baccon, Busainhallah, and Beer Carina re-
mained faithful to the English. In this state of
affairs, the governor applied to the authorities at
the French settlement of Goree for assistance, who
at once came to his support with a French man-of-
war, the Entrepennant, and 150 white troops. On
the 3rd ult. a second expedition was made by
Governor O'Connor against Sabbagee, and after a
desperate resistance on the part of the natives, the
stockaded town of Sabbagee was carried at the point
of the bayonet, the French troops gallantly leading
the advance, and the town was totally destroyed.
The French lost a non-commissioned officer, and
one rank and file killed, and five wounded. The
British troops and volunteers thirty five wounded,
none killed. The natives lost about 200. This has
given temporary security to Bathurst