The Press.
London, England, 1858-05-29 00:00:00

THE OUDE COMMISSIONERS.

Chief Commissioner, Mr. Montgomery, late Judicial
Commissioner, Punjaub Civil Service.—Probable salary,
5,500 r. (per month.)
Judicial and Financial Commissioner, Mr. G. Campbell,
Civil Service.—Salary 3,500 r.
Secretary to Chief Commissioner, Mr. Forsyth, Civil
Sery ice.—Salary 2,000 r.
Military Secretary, probably Captain Hutchinson, Bengal
Engineers, nephew to Mr. Montgomery.-1,500r.
Commissioners of Divisions.—\l essrs. Wingfield, Davies,
St. George Tucker, Couper.—Salaries, 2,750 r.
Deputy Commissioners of Districts.—lat Class.—W.
A. Forbes, Civil Service; Balmain, Civil Service; S. N.
Martin, Civil Service; Captain Barrow.—Salaries, 1,500 r.
2od Class.—Mr. Wake, Civil Service; Captains Carnegie,
Evans, and Freelin g.—Salaries, 1;200r.-3rd Class.—Mr.
Capper, Civil Service ; Mr. G. Lawrence, Civil Service;
and Captain Reid.—Salaries, I,ooor.
P. Carnegy, Uncovenanted Civil Service. Not ap
pointed.
Inspector of Gaols, Dr. Ogilvie, Civil Surgeon; Dr.
Fayrer, Assistant ditto; Mr. Collinson.

THE REBELS AT BAREILLY.
The commander-in-chief, under orders from the Gover-
nor-General, has determined to lead the force which will
occupy Rohilcund. It is not imagined that the rebels will
make any great resistance except at Bareilly, but there is
danger of a despersts effort to escape. Their plan is said
to be to trust to their legs, outmatch us, and press on for
Central India and Bombay. There they will find a new
army to tamper with, princelings by the score, and a popu-
lation which has not forgotten that it once paid its taxes
out of the plunder of the rest of India. This is our real
and permanent difficulty. We cannot march twenty miles
a day, and the rebels accomplish forty regularly, and sixty
when hard pressed. The cavalry might do better, bat,
except on a raid of a couple of days, they are so hampered
with baggage carts and impedimenta of all descriptions that
their speed is lost. Experienced officers now say that for
a war pike this elephants are the only baggage animals
worth anything, but there are not a great many elephants
in our possession. It takes months to collect a hundred.

The Calcutta correspondent complains of the
paucity of European troops in India :
During the year Sir John Lawrence, in the absence of
Europeans, was compelled to appeal to the Sikhs. They
came torward 'ladly, and some 35,000 Khalsa were added
to the irregular army. Four thousand Sikhs have been
ordered into Bengal, in addition to the 2,000 already, and
the total number of Sikhs alone is upwards of 82,000.
The Sikhs are well aware of this, boast that they have
saved the empire, and tell their officers complacently that
" Who knows whose the raj will be?" Many chiefs—no.
tably the Putteala Rajah—have warned British officers of
the consequences, and I have before me a letter repeating

verbatim an opinion given by that Prince—tliat the
" Sikhs, if left idle, will be worse than the Hindostanees."
All these statements signify nothing if England will send
20,000 more Europeans into Bengal, bat they are of serious
importance if we are to be lett, as at present, with fewer
efficient Etuopeaes than our nominal roll before the
mutinies.

The following remarks of the same writer are sig-
nificant enough. The Oude proclamation has not
been withdrawn, but—
Mr. Montgomery has received carte blanche to deal with
each case as be chooses. His course is to compound
with the aristocracy, and the landholders, finding that
the chief gives them their property, are coming to him
fast. There is, however, little hope of the pacification
of Oude for some months. We hold only the city, and
tkat we are compelled to fortify again.

Official despatches, which have reached Paris from
China, lead to the conclusion that the Envoys of
England and trance scarcely hope to accomplish
their views without further hostilities. An ordinary
depatch sa)s :
Advices from China to the 12th of April state rthat in
reply to an address from the British merchants at Canton,
Lord Elgin assured them that the demands of the allies
were moderate, but that they would insist on their being
complied with. They are prepared to resort if necessary to
force, and they will not shrink, should it be found requisite,
from carrying hostilities to the very walls of Pekin.
The Hong Kong papers state that Teent•Sin, a small
harbour about fifty miles from Pekin, will easily fall into
the hands of the allies, and they urge that gunboats should
be sent up to the capital. At Canton the native authorities
secretly persecute and torture all who are suspected of
favouring the allies. Great atrocities have been discovered.
In the inland provinces anarchy is said to be on the increase.

Achmed Pacha, eldest son of the late Ibrahim
Pacha, and heir apparent to the Viceroyalty, has lost
his life by a railway accident between Cairo and
Alexandria.

The Gazette of last night contaii
of the Hon. and Rev. Augustus
the Deanery of the Metropolitan
rendered vacant by the death
Cockburn, Bart.,D.D.

_ ~....

►ins tho appointment
Duucombe, M.A., to
n Church of York,
th of Sir Williopt

520

joreign orrrsganbeitte.

PARIS, Thursday.
THE Conference which was deputed by the Congress
that drew up the treaty of peace between Russia and
the Western powers to settle sundry matters with
which the Congress itself had not time or did not
think it politic to deal, has recommenced its sittings

in this capital, for the purpose of coming to a defini-
tive conclusion respecting the organization of the
Danubian principalities. The Conference, jou are
aware, consists of the Ambassadors or Ministers at
Paris of the powers which took part in the Con-
gress, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count
Walewski, being the president. Its proceedings are,
of course, kept secret; but it is known that each
power represented maintains more or less firmly the
opinion it has espoused on the Danubian question—
that is to say, that whilst some are favourable, others
are opposed to the union of the Principalities. In
spite, however, of this divergence of view, it is not
doubted that an understanding will be come to—
though, perhaps, it may take time to arrive at—so as
not to hurt the self-love or ruffle the dignity of the
powers which will have, more or less, to give up the
positions they have assumed. The general opinion
in political quarters is that England, Austria, and
Turkey will carry their point of preventing the union
of the Principalities as a separate State ; but that,
as is just, they must in return make certain con-
cessions to France and Russia, which are favour-
able to it.
Great uneasiness was occasioned recently by the
French Government having " assumed an attitude "
(as diplomatists say) of scarcely disguised hostility
to Austria on the Montenegro question, and it was
increased greatly by the said Government having
thought fit to despatch two ships of the line to the
Adriatic to cruise off the coast nearest Montenegro,
and by Austria responding to that demonstration by
despatching frigates to the same destination. The un-
easiness has, however, been removed by the receipt
of the news that a conference is to assemble at Con-
stantinople to arrange the Montenegro affair.
Nevertheless, it is impossible to shut one's eyes to
the fact that the relations between France and
Austria cannot be very satisfactory, when they, with
rather hot haste, make demonstrations against each

other with ships of war.
1 have reason to believe that the King of Naples
has decidedly intimated his readiness to accept the
arbitration of a great power in his dispute with
Sardinia, and that Prussia is the power he would
prefer to have chosen. I suppose that the arbitra-
tion, if it takes place, will be made to comprise the
dispute between England and Naples.
The Government has done some very impolitic
things in the course of the last few months ; but it
has just done one which outstrips them all, and
which is vehemently denounced on all hands. The
Minister of the Interior, in its name, has ordered the
prefects of departments to make the boards of
management of hospitals, and of what are called
bureaux de bienfaisance (offices for relieving the in-
digent), sell the houses and lands belonging to the
hospitals and bureaux, and invest the money ob-
tained by the sale in the public funds. The ground
he assigns for this extraordinary proceeding is that
at present the real property in question only yields
on an average two and a half per cent.—nay, strictly
speaking, even less than two; and that the invest-
ment in rente of the capital it is worth would yield a
revenue of at least double. But as the value of the
said property is 500,000,0001 r. (20,000,0001.), the sale
of it at once, or in the space of a few years, and the
investment of the proceeds in Government Stock,
would create a tremendous economic perturbation,
which would produce consequences none can foresee.
It would at the same time be a gross violation of the
rights of property, for almost all the houses and
lands held by the hospitals and bureaux were
bequeathed to them on the express or implied con-
dition that they should not be sold. It would,
besides, be a most unsafe operation, for there is no
t elling what will become of the rente at the next
grand smash, and in this unfortunate country a
smash is always " looming in the future;" whereas,
though the value of houses and lands may be depre-
ciated by political convulsion, it is never destroyed,
and reviv.•s and increases on the return of calm ;
besides which, it appears that it is a well established
fact that in France 1001. invested in rente are abso-
lutely worth less after the lapse of a certain number
of years than 1001. invested in houses or land. In
addition to all this, it is to be remembered that of
late years socialist doctrines have unhappily been
evidently embraced by a large portion of the ignorant
population of this country, and that the essence (.1
such doctrines is that the difference which laws and
society have hitherto maintained between what is
/mine and whet is theirs is erroneous, and should he
abolished. Now, if the Government can justly say
to the hospitals, " Sell, and btu my Threesper-Cent,
Stook," it no ssy ato eat so oltiag to ou noble.

THE PRESS, MAY 29, 1858.

gentle, or peasant landowner of France, and in so
saying it solemnly sanctions and practises socialism.
In a few days a decree is to appear in the Moniteur
nominating Prince Napoleon, the Emperor's cousin,
"Imperial Lieutenant of Algeria," with powers which
place him above all Ministers, and subject him to the
Emperor alone. Both the title and the position are
new—Algeria having hitherto had at its bead only a
" Governor," and he being a mere functionary of the
War Department, just as one of our colonial gover-
nors is nothing more than a subordinate of the
Colonial Minister. The change of title and position
is not approved of in governmental circles, and it is
said that several eminent official dignitaries, who
have for years been connected with Algeria, intend to
resign rather than accept it. The Emperor in
creating a new post and title has, of course, had no
other object than to provide becomingly for his
cousin, and the latter in accepting them has pro.
bably desired to relieve himself from the sort of
stigma which has hitherto attached to him of doing
nothing and being nothing in the State, when King
Louis Philippe's sons, one and all, were made to
work bard in their respective professions. The
Prince will probably confine himself chiefly to civil
duties—the work of the army being pretty well
accomplished in Algeria. It is lucky on many
accounts that he will not have much to do with the
army, for he is very unpopular in its ranks.
The Court is now at Fontainebleau, and the Queen
of Holland has accompanied it. As the weather is
unsettled, and not at all spring-like (people out of
doors are wrapped up in great-coats and cloaks),
and as the Dutch Sovereign manifested great delight
with Paris, it is whispered that the Emperor's object
in going there is to indulge one of the new foibles he
possesses—that of having grand stag-hunts, or, at
least, making grand parades with his magnificent
hunting establishment, in their gorgeous uniforms
of green and gold a /a Louis XV.—a uniform which
he dons himself with predilection. The Queen of
Holland, it appears, is of a literary and scientific
turn, and courtiers say that her Majesty is so won-
derfully learned in all the " ologies," and so fond of
talking about them, that they soon get out of their
depth with her.

The literary gentleman, M. de Pena, who was
wounded in the late duel with an officer of the army,
not having died, as it was at one time feared he
would do, the interest excited by the melancholy
event has considerably abated. Nevertheless, that
event has left behind it ill-feeling between the mili-
tary on the one hand and civilians on the other—the
former thinking that there is a general disposition to
quiz them, the latter fearing that the former contem-
plate reestablishing that arrogant treatment of
civilians in which the military indulged some thirty
or forty years ago. I hear that this ill-feeling would
in all probability have before this produced several
duels hal not the Government notified to officers of
regiments, through the colonels, its desire that they
shall for the present be moderate and circumspect in
their intercourse with civilians. The Government
has also, I understand, directed military men to
abstain from publishing in newspapers any more
epistles relative to the late duel.
The manner in which the new law for prohibiting
the assumption of false names and titles is to be
carried out causes great anxiety in the better classes
of society. You are aware that there are thousands,
and tens of thousands, of respectable and wealthy
persons in this country who, from puerile vanity,
call themselves counts and marquises, vicomtes or
barons, or De This or De That, without any manner of
right whatsoever, and that there are even hundreds
of really noble families who are utterly unable to
give legal proof of their nobility. Consequently,
the Government, if it pleases, can make the new law
a tremendous weapon of offence—can, by means of
it, carry mortification and humiliation and shame
into countless families ir. all parts of France. Will
it do this? The thing seems hardly likely, for to do
it would raise up a host of implacable enemies whom
it would not be easy to withstand. And yet if it does
it not, what is the utility, what the object of the law ?
From an incident of recent occurrence, it would
appear that the Emperor's present intention is to
have the law executed coute qae coute. A well-
known political writer, M. de --, waited on
his Majesty, and stated what his Majesty knew per-
fectly well, that his cognomen is simply —, and
that he added to it " de —," from the name of a
village in which he lives, in order to make it more
sonorous, and to distinguish himself from a myriad
of other —s. He then went on to say that as he
had become famous by the name of -- de --, it
would be very painful to him to abandon it, and he
respectfully solicited the Emperor to give him formal
authorization to bear it. He hinted that his services

to the Imperial Government in the press entitled
him to hope that his request would not be refused.
The Emperor readily acknowledged that the gentle-
man had rendered great services to the Bonapartist
cause in the presE, and that he was entitled to a
recompense. "But," oontinued his Majesty, "it is
desirable that my kited& and sdbersum should

l

always set the example of obeying the law, and there.
fore, M. I doubt not tbat you will at once cease
to call yourself -- de -- !" Trembling with rage,
the miter made his obeisance and departed ; and he
vows that he will write no more in defence of the
Emperor.

foreign and (Colonial 3ntelligenct.

FRANCE.
THE LATE DUEL AT PARIS.

The editor of the Figaro has sent the following
letter to the editor of the Nord :

My dear Sir,—The Nord of the 19th of May, in its
account of the duel of my friend and collaborator, M.
Henri de Pena, says that my interview with his Excellency
the Minister of Justice has been variously appreciated.
As the most upright intentions are open to false inter-
pretations, I shall feel much obliged to you if you will
insert these few lines to explain the object 1 had in view in
the step I took under the melancholy circumstances.
I did not ask for an interview to lodge a complaint on
account of the deplorable incidents which are connected
with the second duel of M. de Pen., because magistrates
in France are aware of the duties they have to fulfil with.
out need of admonition.

I never for a moment doubted that full justice would he
rendered. My visit to the Keeper of the Seals was made
with another object in view.
On arriving at Paris from Blois, after this lamentable
affair, I found much excitement. I found various letters
addressed to me by men who emulated each other in offers
to avenge our lost comrade. Many other persons sent their
cards to the office of the Figaro with the same intentions;
all expressed the same disgust at the second duel, knowing
well that a blow was not necessary to compel M. de Pene
to fight a second duel. On the other hand, it has been
statod that after a warm discussion on the topic which still
excites Paris another duel was to take place between M. de
Pommereux and M. de Gallifet. _ _ .

Feeling the gravity of the circumstances, I felt it my
duty to cell upon the Minister of Justice to assure him
that I should do everything in my power to prevent further
bloodshed. _ _

The excitement in the public mind was such that a
prompt explanation was necessary. lat once published an
enra sheet in explanation, the moderation of which I hope
all honourable men will approve. •
I have endeavoured especially to show that the army is
not responsible for the acts of one of its members.
In support of this idea I have published a letter from
two officers in the Guides, MM. Grangier and Comroinges,
and I adverted to the courteous conduct of M. Courtiel,
the first opponent of M. de Pine.
One word more. The Nord says that my friend M. de
Pine was the victim of the duties which a certain portion
of the press imposes upon its contributor,.
Frenoh journalists never needed to be reminded of
courage. Duels are not confined to the lesser journals.
may mention those of Armand Carrel, of Dujarrier, and
Amodio Achard. I only mention three—l could mention
thirty.—l am, dec., H. DE VILLIMESSANT.
In reply to the above letter the editor of the Nord
says :
We have only a word to say in reply, which is, M. de
Villemessant has misunderstood our meaning. When we
said M. de Pens was the victim of the duties which a
certain portion of the press imposes upon its contributors,
we meant to say that be was the victim of the obligation
of the necessity of the contributors to such a paper to
make a joke at. the expense of others at the risk of a dis-
agreeable result. Between the meaning of our words and
that of M. de Villemessant there is the same difference as
between the causes and the character of the duel of M. de
Pens and the causes and character of the duels alluded to
by the editor of the Figaro.
It would appear that the letter of MM. Grangier
and De Comminges, officers of the Guides, with-
drawing their challenges against M. de Pine, when
they heard he was mortally wounded, has been con-
strued in certain quarters as a weakness on the pat
of those officers. The Constitutionnel contains a
paragraph which must be " communicated " from
some more or less authoritative source, which depre-
cates the supposition that MM. "the fficers of the
Guides did share the sentiments of their comrades
in other regiments on the subject of the duel with
M. de Pine." Their only intention "was to with-
draw after the calamity which had happened, and to
express their hope that the result might not be
fatal." That is precisely what they said in their
letter, but the objeot of this coramuniqui is mani-
festly to affirm that they approve of the system of
hunting a man to death by successive challenges
from military men. Forty-two officers in uniform
went to the office of the Incluatriel of St. Germain,
and delivered in person the following summons :
To the Director and Reilacteur-in-Chief of the
Gentlemen,—The officers of the garrison of Saint Ger-
main ( Ist liegitnent of the Cuirassiers of the Guards) re-
quest, and in case of need require you to insert in your
next number the following letter, which they have ust
received from their comrade, M. lice, officer of the )
11th
Chasseura. (Signed) :
Captains Deshautschamps, Schlosser, Collet, Dequeu,
Champigneule, Du Boisberanger, Griffaud, Guillon, De
Bullet, Villard, Cordier.
Lieutenants De Vathaire, Tristan de L'Hersult, Loudia,
&Mob, De As* Dimas, A. Potia, A. Mann.

U

Sub-Lieutenants Gallet de Santerre, Bernard, Brisson,
De Courmont, Fleece, Lades, Laclede Tieequey, Lafon,
Becoulet de Tarragon, De Illanpy, Thierry, Morin,
Pretnion Bas, Dufilhol, Desrayaud, Chatelein, Liston,
Godeirin.

Abbeville, May 20.
Gentlemen,—Figuro,
.in its number of May 6, inserted
an article which was an Insult to all the officers of the army.
In giving an account of a soiree this journal said, " Remark.
able improvement—the inevitable sub-lieutenant was not
them" &c. On reading this article, M. Courtiel, a sub-
lieutenant of the 9th Chasseurs, in garrison at Amiens,
addressed a letter to M. de Pene (the " Nemo " of Figaro),
the author of the article, calling upon him for satisfaction
for the insult. Almost simultaneously, M. Hyenne, an
officer of the same regiment, in garrison at Abbeville, also
sent a challenge to M. de Pens. No answer was sent to
either of these letters, but Figaro of the 13th contained a
second article, replying, in coarse terms, to M. Courtiers
letter. Thereupon thin officer came to Yetis, accompanied
by his two seconds, MM. Hyenne and Rosé. The meeting
between M. de Pine and M. Courtiel took place in Vesinet
rood. 1.1. Courtiel having received a wound in the fore
part of his arm was compelled to renounce the combat
setich had been of very short duration (tine minute). M.
Hyenne, then approaching M. de Pene, addressed him
with the most perfect coolness, and the following dialogue
occurred:—" I also, sir, wrote to you on the subject of your
article, and I signed my name to my letter. Do you re-
member it ?" " Yes, sir. I do." " Then you owe me
satisfaction, and I demand it of you." " But it would he
very difficult fur me to fight with all the officers of the
army." " You have insulted them all, and they have all
the tight to force you to draw the sword." " I refer to my
seconds." In this state of things, the seconds having jai•
mated their intention to leave the ground, M. Hyenne
urgently repeated his demand to fight. He told these
gentlemen that he was determined to fight M. de Pene,
and that if a meeting were refused he should be under the
painful necessity of insulting him. M. de Nile and his
seconds continuing to refuse, M. Hyenne, after a last
entreaty, which produced no effect, used an insulting ges.
tore (a chiquenaud) towards his adversary, who thereupon
asked his seconds what he should do. They replied
" You must fight." But one of them objected that M.
Hyenne ought not to be allowed to measure swords with
an adversary whose method of fighting he had just had an
opportunity of studying. M. Hyenne, who had pistols
about him, insisted that M. de Pene should choose the
arm which he preferred. The sword was chosen, and M.
de Pone received two wounds. We think it necessary to
give you all the details of this double meeting, in order
that your opinion may not be misled by reading the eon-
tnidictory and malicious comments of certain journals.
For instance, in the Industriel of St. Germain, which first
gave an account of the duel, it was stated that after M.
Court.el was wounded M. Hyenne thought tit to take up
the affair. This way of telling the story is insulting and
incorrect, for M. Hyenne did not avenge M. Couttiel, but
the entire army. This is the proper place to assert in the
most unequivocal manner that M. de Pene was responsible
for his aitcle, not only to an individual but to a class. In
the Figaro Programme of the 17th, M. de Villemesasnt, in
allusion to the energetic and calm intervention of M.
Hyenne, calls it an " indescribable scene." He takes care
to uotict only the provocation, and passes over the entirely
proper conduct of that officer. The army, which is such a
good judge in affairs of honour, will appreciate the facts.
The officers of the cavalry and artillery of the guard, as
as well as those of the 84th Regiment, have spontaneously
assured me of their entire sympathy. Gentlemen, my
desire is that the army, to whom the original insult was
addressed, should know precisely in what way it was avenged.
(Signed) Roos:, one of the seconds.
M. de Pene remains in a precarious state. Figaro
has been ordered not to publish any more bulletins
concerning his health, and to close the book in
which persons calling to make inquiries write their
names.

The II morial d'Amiens says :
MM. Courtiel and Hvenne, principals in the two duels
With M. de Pine, and M. Hoge, second to these gentle-
men, all three officers in the 9th Itegunent of Chasseurs,
in garrison at Abbeville, have been summoned by the
Juge d'lnstruction of Versailles to appear before him and
undergo an interrogatory. The proprietor of the Figaro
has also been required to attend.

The Minister of War, wishing to stop the cmise-
quences of the duel between M. de Pelle and Lieu
tenant Hyenne, has addressed a circular to the
colonels commanding regiments to forbid the writing
of letters by officers to the directors of newspapers,
adding that the " honour " of the army stands too
high in the estimation of the French people and
of the whole world to be effected by the ill-timed
pleasantry of an obscure journal. There was nothing
against the " honour" of the army in the Figaro ;
the paragraph had merely reference to their de-
meanour in society. M. de Pene is said to be still in
a dangerous state.
In the second edition of yesterday's Times we
read :-
1 have just heard that M. de Nile, who was wounded
in a duel with Lieutenant Hye►nte, of the 9th Chasseurs,
is dying. It is not expected that he will survive this night.
In none of his death, his rather will institute proceedings
against Lieutenant Ilyenae.
PRUSSIA.

In a communication from an occasional corre-
"Pondent, the Times inserts a good deal of woniler at
the emting ewe of things in Prussia. The Prince
of PM's* the King's representative, tube is bum