The Press.
London, England, 1858-10-09 00:00:00

ioreign :tab CLolanial Intttligtntt.

FRANCE.
IMPERIAL MOVEMENTS.
The Mcniteur of Wednesday contains the following,
dated from the camp at Chalons, Oct. 5
The Emperor this day received the visit of his Imperial
Highness Prince Napoleon. After remaining some hours
with his Majesty, the Prince left for Paris at five o'clock,
accompanied by his aide•de-camp in chief, Colonel Fran.
caniere. General Codrington, of the English army, and
Colonel Blanc, arrived at the camp this morning, and
were invi►ed by the Emperor to spend some days at this
Imperial head-quarters. His Majesty continues in perfe it
health.
PRUSSIA.
THE KING'S HEALTH.
A letter from Berlin of the 2nd states that the King
has become considerably worse, and that, one of his
sides having become paralyzed, he could only be
removed from one room to another in an armchair.

ROME.
THE CARDINALATE.
On the 27th tilt. the Pope held a Secret Consistory
Court in the Palace of the Vatican.
No promotions to the cardinalate have been made,
but twenty five bishops have been nominate], of
whom three are French.

INDIA.
THE BOMBAY AND CALCUTTA MAILS.
The overland mail brings advises and papers from
Calcutta to August 21, ana from Bombay to Sept. 7.
Our troops are now as actively engaged in all parts
of the country as if we had been in the middle of
the cold season, instead of at the end of the rains.
General Roberts having beaten the enemy on the
14th, and captured all their guns, found himself
unable to follow them further, when the chase was
taken up by Brigadier Parkes, who had left Nee-
much in the beginnir.g of August on purpose. A
detachment under Colonel Lockhart bad been
pushed out by General Michel from Mhow, to co•
operate with Parkes, when the fugitives escaped
between the two advancing columns by crossing
the Chumbul, which then, unfortunately for us,
was rising so rapidly in consequence of the deluges
of rain falling around, that we were unable to
follow them.
Brigadier Smith having been unable to induce
the garrison of Powrie to surrender unconditionally,
and being without heavy ordnance, had to wait for
assistance from Gwalior. This arrived on the 19th,
under General Napier. Our mortar batteries opened
on the 2(lth ; the shelling continued for a couple of
days, when the place was found to have been eva-
cuated. On entering it we found that the rebels bad
run away at. the very outset, leaving behind them a
few wretched country people, of whom ten were
killed and twenty wounded. A party immediately
proceeded in pursuit, bu; the fugitives proved too
fleet for them. They returned to the camp on the
28th. On the following day the whole body started
for Rajghur, a place about forty miles to the south-
westward, where the rebels were said to he mustering
in force. Two strong detachments quitted Jhansi
about the middle of August ; the one under Captain

Montriou proceeded northward in the direction of
Goona, and overtook the enemy, of whom they
killed about a dozen; the other under Colonel Lid-
dell moved westward, and were by last accounts still
in the field, without having seen the enemy.
Sir Hope Grant's force is still in the neighbourhood
of Sultanpore, their movements being greatly impeded
by swollen rivers and deluges of rain.
A brilliant victory was lately gained by 550 of the
Oude police over about 4,000 of the rebels. There
has been serious disturbances amongst the recently
raised levies in the Punjaub. Three of the Bengal
sepoy regiments have now been rearmed. The con-
spiracy was discovered and crushed in the bud, and
therefore there is no immediate danger to us from
this particular attempt. But the grave part of the
matter is, that it proves we cannot rely upon the
Sikhs; it proves we cannot rely upon the loyalty of
those on whom we are largely depending to overcome
the disloyalty of the sepoys and of our rebellions
subjects.
In Oude a body of more probably twenty than
sixteen thousand rebels are moving in the neigh-
bourhood of Sultanpore. The force despatched
from Fyzabad to watch this strong muster consisted
of the Ist Madras Fusiliers, the sth Punjaub
Rifles, one troop of horse artillery, and 500 cavalry.
Tantia Topie's family of twelve persons has been
captured and sent into Gwalior. In the Shahabad
district, the rebel hunt which was described in our
last summary as having succeeded to military opera-
tions, continues. One day forty rebels, another
day ten, another 100 or more are wounded, taken,
or killed.
The Englishman says •—" On a perusal of the
official intelligence it will be perceived that the
rebels are gaining strength, and that the theatre of
war is merely shifting from one locality to another;
and according to all appearances we fear that the
complete pacification of the country and the restora-
tion of order must be the work of 1859 ; indeed
were the Company's authority to continue for the
next twelve months, we should despair of peace even
during the next year."

but I will, with the permission of your hon. committee.
state the grounds upon which those convictions rest, and
describe the course of policy which I have pursued in
dealing with the rebellion in Oude. If, when I have done
so, it shall be deemed that that policy has been erro-
neo' as, or that, not being erroneous, it has been feebly and
ineffectually curried out, or that for any reason the confi-
dence of those who are responsible for the administration
of Indian affairs in England should be withheld from me, I
make it my respectful but urgent request, through your
hon. committee, that I may be relieved of the office of
Governor-General of India with the least possible delay.
7. I desire to say that 1 shall in that case resign my
great charge into the bands of the Hon. Court of Direc-
tors, with a deep and abiding sense of gratitude for the
generous support, the unreserved confidence, and the
considerate courtesy which I have at all times received
from therm
I have nothing more to add upon the personal part of
this question.
8. Rut, before I speak of the proclamation, I beg to
call the attention of your hon. committee to certain
paragraphs of the despatch before me, which are pregnant
with a signification far more momentous than the cen-
sure of any recent act or policy of the Governor-
Ueneral of the day. These paragraphs are numbered
from 10 to 14 inclusive, and I believe that I shall not
misrepresent their import by describing it as follows :-
9. They begin by pointing out a doubt whether the
British Government was justified in taking possession of
the kingdom of Oude. The doubt is pointed out, but is
not resolved, nor is a distinct opinion expressed upon it.
10. Certain facts are then referred to which, though
they do not directly affect the question of our right to
take possession of Oude, are cited as leading, in con-
junction with the doubt above mentioned, to the con-
clusion that the hostilities which the people of Oude
have been carrying on against us have rather the cha-
racter of legitimate war than that of rebellion, and that
the people of Onde should be regarded with indulgent
consideration.
11. It is altogether beyond my duty to discuss whether
the course pursued by the British Government in taking
possession of Chide was a lawful and justifiable one;
still less does it belong to me to say what line of con-
duct the British Government ought to follow if it be now
determined that that course was not lawful or justifiable.
Bet as to the indulgence due to the people of Oude, your
hon committee will, I am sure, do me the justice to admit
that no misgiving as to the character of our dealings with
the Oude State was necessary to induce me to declare,
without any Injunction from yourselves, that the talook-
data and landholders of Oude must be viewed in a very
different light from that in which rebels in our old pro-
vinces are to be regarded. I found sufficient reason for
this in the facts that the allegiance of these men, when
they broke into rebellion, was little more than a year old,
and that they had become British subjects by no act of
their own ; that our rule had brought loss of property upon
many of them, and upon sortie an unjust loss ; and that it
had diminished the importance and arbitrary power of a'L
I considered these facts to be a palliation of rebellion even
where hostility to us had been most inveterate, and :there-
fore I put aside altogether the punishments of death, trans-
portation, and imprisonment, and while marking those who
had rebelled with the penalty which in India, as elsewhere,
has been again and again recognized as a fitting punishment
of rebels—namely, the forfeiture of their rights in the soil,
—I promised indulgence to those who should make
. .

prompt submisaion.
I felt that considerations of policy and mercy, and the
newness of our rule, prescribed this course. I recorded
this in a paper already in the hands of your hon. com—

. .
mittee; and I hope, before closing this despatch, to show
that the indulgence has been accorded promptly and
liberally.
12. But it is my first duty earnestly to beg your hon.
committee to consider the effect which will be produced
upon the province of Oude when it shall become generally
known that the British Government speaks hesitatingly
of its right to rule that country. I cannot but fear that
it will make a turbulent and warlike people more impatient
then ever of subjection to authority and order. I fear that
it will furnish a pretext for resistance to the Government
of which many had spirits will not be slow to avail them-
selves now and hereafter.
13. But more especially do I fear its immediate effect.
It cannot have escaped the notice of your hon. committee
that, although the rising against oar authority in Oude
has been general, almost universal, it has been singularly
devoid of a national character. Except fur the pur-
pose of reducing our garrison in Lucknow, and after-
wards of holding the city against as, there appears to have
been no common cause among our assailants. Since
the capture of Lucknow we have bad against us the party
of the liegum and her son, claiming to represent the royal
family of Oude ; the party of the Monlvie, a Mahomedan
fanatic; the party of the natal, an adventurer without
rights or property in the province ; the sepoys, who have
Passed from one leader to another according as they have
been able to extort the highest pay ; and a number of the
talooltdars and zemindars, some few of whom, at the bead
of bands of their own, have plundered and oppressed their
enemies ant those whom they believed to be our friends,
while others, generally of less influence, have been tempted
or coerced into joining the ranks of the Begum or the
Moulvis.
There is little concert or cohesion between any of these
Parties. Indeed, between those of the Begum and the
lonlvie there has been not only complete separation but
open hostility.
14. I cannot think that this want of unity will long con-
tinue if it shall once become manifest that the British
government hesitates to declare its right to possess Oude,
and that it regards itself as a wrongful intruder into the
place of tae dynasty which the Begum claims to represent.
I believe that this would draw to the side of the Began'
many who have hitherto shown no sympathy with the late