The Express.
London, England, 1853-11-14 00:00:00

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LONDON, MONDAY, NOrEMBER 14.

We have gloomy and threatening news from India.
Lord I),Lti,a -tt: having done in Hannah what the
Car Nicitot.t., has done on the l'rutli, the retribu-
tion follow., in the one case as in the other. ltussians
and 'fork, suffer on the Danube glishmen,
Bepoys, and Burmese on the Irrawaddy. Armies of
invasion as decimated to please the authors of
invasions- -shtlit invaded peoples pay still hem ier
pnalties. 'FL,. Burmese, the Wa'lachians, and the
Stoldavians ell now suffer the honors of a military
occupation. hut with this difference, that the
Burmese suffer most severely. In each instance
an unjust end impolitic attempt to extend territories
already too large has led to heavy sufferings and
serious national embroilment,.
Previous

and previous Coin-
menders had found titles and pensions follow every
extension of British rule in ll:adostan, and we have
only a copy of old vicious plans when we see I.ord
DALHOUSIE and Commodore L 0111 LIST trying their
hands at the work of native spoliation on the flimsiest
of pretences. But !here is in the present case this
variation for the worse. Tl.e:r predecessors at the
work had been able generally to acquire valuable
territorie► nt.tl to hold them, but Pcgu is entirely
valueless,n, d even its act nal possession yet very doubt-
hi. Indeed, the only certainties in the case up to the
present time are, that the people whom the present
GOVEKNORDF.NERAL " absorbed" are suffering all
the horrors of famine, that the territory he has an-
nexed is overlain by guerillas and thieves, and that
the diseases which affect Europeans in that quarter
of the globe have swept away far more of our gallant
moldiers and seaman than have fallen in action with
the enemy. The climate of the Burmese rivers
has proved so deadly that not only the Europeans on
Service there, but the sepoys also, are disgusted with
the service. This is now notorious. Even the
Bombay 2'illies ventures to re-publish a private
letter from Prome, in which the writer says—" The
sepoys are longing for their homes. It is quite
touching to see the extraordinary anxiety they evince
on the arrival of each mail to see if the relief is out.
This country will never be popular with the
native soldiery." All the letters now tell
very much the same tale about the native
forces ; whilst for months past a yet more painful,
mere tragic record has been posted about the Euro-
peans, whose unhappy lot has fallen amongst the
Burmese swamps. The fate of officers and men, who
have become the prey of cholera and fever in this
second Burmese War—dying like sick dogs in a
ditch—is most terrible, and what makes the matter
worse is, that they seem likely to be only the advanced
guard, uit were, of those certain to follow. The
news from Rangoon and Prome is, truly enough,
declared to be of a disheartening character.
" The poor people of the country are ac-
tually dying of starvation; their misery is a moat
pitiful sight," says an eye-witness. No wonder that
the same writer has to add, that officers "exhibit
much anxiety to get away from Burmah." To
meet an open foe is the duty of a soldier, and has
seldom if ever been shrunk from, but to be made the
instrument of holding in duresee a people on
whom our presenoe has brought down famine ;—to
be kept either idle on a fever-swamp or busy in
hunting knots of armed thieves, accounts sufficiently
for any amount of disinclination for such duty.
More vigorous work is doubtless in preparation, for
the chief, Aleau TOON, has, it seems, started up anew
in the centre of four thousand soldiers and two other
chiefs with six thousand more. Here we find
the nucleus of a large army now in the Held
against us—ready, it is said, for an attack upon Ran-
goon. More soldiers are wanted, and more a ictims will
be offered up upon the shrine of this worthless exten-
sion of territory in Pegu. The King of AVA and
his brother are both stated to be actively occupied in
doing all that can be done for the destruction of their
invaders, and oar future in this quarter of the
world seems likely to be a pleasant compound of
alternate smart fights with guerilla barbarians and
slow destruction of valuable British lives by a climate
in which no European can remain with impunity.
For all this Lord DALHOUSIE will some day, we
presume, be returning to England—to receive com-
pliments and a pension !

But the Burmese mischief is not confined to Bur-
nish. Encouraged seemingly by a knowledge of the
fact that our troops are baby in the south-east, the
conquered people and their neighbours in the north.
west are becoming troublesome. More news from
India has reached London than is given in the
newspapers brought by the Overland Mail, and
if it is all true, we may expect work fer
another army in addition to the one that use
reinforcement on the Irrawaddy. The eaesseiesties
of Major MACKESON was a very awkward symptom,
which has been followed by an equally significant
concentration of troops about Peshawar. Sikhs and
Affghans are both known to feel a sullen discontent
towards us, and the I3usso•phobists and the agents of
Russia are both muttering about the possibility
of a Muscovite gathering in that quarter of the
world to create a diversion of English at-
tention in the Turkish dispute. It is true
that enormous difficulties are in the way of any such
attempt on the part of Nlcttot.es-♦nd amongst
others the difficulties of fai h. The Affghans sympa.
this(' with the Mahommedan, not with the Greek,
Church. But to spread each a report is the evident
interest of the Czar on many accounts; for the
report itself, by encouraging a belief in English
difficulties may cause an outbreak in the
north-west of India, and an outbreak, whether
successful or not, is only another term for troubles,
loss of life, and outlay of treasure. Should Lord
Daimon= find his government with two wars on
hand at ones—the one in Burmah purely of ►is own
seeking, and the second induced by the weakness
following the first,—with a treasury indifferently
provided, and troops disgusted with the service they
are sent upon, be msy, perhaps, think, like his
counterpart the CZAR, that it is not always the
sagest ruler who, instead of consolidating a domi-
nion by wise government, seeks a reckless eclat by its
extension.

Tux evidence of Mr. PULLING before the Corn-
mini* of lrquiry into the state of the City Ca-
pered% is worth referring to, as it contains many
details concerning the nature of the corporation in
ancient times which are not generally known. Mr.
PULLING directed attention to a fact which is seldom
taken into consideration, except by professed anti-
quaries, that at an early date the Corporation of
London—and he might hare added all corporations—
had stood in a peculiar position towards the state, a
position which it was impossible that it could
occupy at the present day. It had, he said, pos-
sessed very extensive powers, which appeared to