The Express.
London, England, 1853-08-29 00:00:00

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

We have received our journals and despatches In
anticipation of the overland mail. The dates are—
&inlay, July 20; Calcutta, July 16; Hong Kong,
July '.
The letter of our Bombay correspondent is es
follows :

BOMBAY, JULY 20.
PROCLAMATION OF PEACE WITH BURMAII.
Peace hu been declared with Burmah, but for the
present the entire force now in that country is to re-
main, in case his Golden-footed Majesty or any of his
subjects should be insane enough to attempt to dis-
turb us in tho newly-acquired province of Pegu,
which is not at all unlikely. It will be observed
from the subjoined proclamation of the Governor-
General that the King of Ava has declined formally
to consent to the cession of any of his territory to us,
but states that orders have been issued to his troops
and chiefs not to molest the British in any of the dis-
tricts in which they have established garri-
sons and cantonments, which is tantamount
to acknowledging . us as masters of the said
districts ; and this the Governor-General is
williag to take as an earnest of his Majesty's desire
for peace. At the same time the troops are pru-
, deutly ordered to remain for a time in l'egu, they
being placed on peace allowances. How long this
state of matters will endure cannot of course
be guessed at. In the proclamation there is
nothing said of the King of Ava having agreed
to pay the sum originally demanded as indem-
nity for the injury caused to our subjects, which was
the ostensible cause of the war—so it is presumed
our annexation of the province of Pegu is deemed
satisfaction sufficient. It is to be hoped the peace
now proclaimed may be lasting; but there are not a
few who look on it as likely to be but of temporary
duration. We have obtained a footing in the country,
and " destiny " will impel us onward be degrees till
Burmah entire shall be swallowed up in the British
dominions in the East.

Second Lieutenant (I. I). Browne, Ist Bengal
Fusiliers, died at Rangoon on the 21st June. Since
the commencement of hostilities, thirteen officers
have been killed by the enemy, and forty-eight have
died from effects of climate ; forty-lour have been
wounded, and considerably more than a hundred
have been compelled by ill health to quit the
country, either for Europe, or some hill station in
India.

The latest news comes down to the 20th June
from Rangoon, and the 13th from Prome. General
Godwin and staff had reached the former place from
the latter on the 19th, bearing a letter from the King
of Ava for the Governor-General, the receipt of
which no doubt caused the publication of the peace
proclamation above given. The Arracan local bat-
talion was to be stationed near Henzadah when it
arrived. The troops were enjoying to!erably good
health all over the province. No progress had been
made in raising the l'egn irregular corps, as the
Peguere did not seem to relish our mode of drill and
discipline; they will, however, come round in a short
time. Rice was extremely dear, and the poor people
were suffering much from scarcity of food. The ce-
lebrated Meah Toon was at Ave, and had received
every consideration at the hands of the king. We
have declared peace, but the Burmese• sovereign has
will,'

not, and ere long this same Mesh Toon ,or I
much mistake, appear in the field against uses Com-
mander-in-Chief of the Burmese army. Gangs of
robbers infested the town of Itansoon, and
even the magistrate himself, Captain Latter,
had been victimised by them. Commodore
Lambert had returned to Rangoon on the 14th,
still far from well, but much better from his
sojourn at Moulmain. The Fox frigate was about to
start for Trincomalee. Heavy rain had fallen on the
17th and 18th. Several small vessels had reached
Rangoon with cargoes of rice, but nothing near the
quantity required; there had been no cultivation,
owing to the war, and, as a matter of course, there
could be no crops to reap, and prospects for the poor ,
were gloomy indeed. H.M. 18th and 80th at Prome
were enjoying tolerably good health, but both corps
have been completely destroyed since entering Bur-
mall, more than half of each having been swept away
by death or the enemy. The command in Peeu will
probably be given to Sir John Chespe, and General
Godwin will return to Bengal. Commodore Lambert
goes home,where he will no doubt be knighted for,
his gallantry during the war. Old Godwin has come
through well after all, albeit a slow coach of first
water; he of course will be created a baronet. They
all deserve to be rewarded, and long may they live
to enjoy the honours sure to be bestowed on them.
The Hon. Mr. AlexanGer Bell, of whose illness I
wrote you in my last, has paid the debt of nature,
and been gathered to his Where. He died at Poona
on the morning of the 6th instant. He had been ill
for some time, and finding his end approaching he,
on the '29th June, resigned the service. There can
be little doubt that Mr. Bell's dissolution was hur-
ried in no slight degree by the continued attacks
made on his character by Mr. Laard—attacks be-
lieved by most people to be as unfounded as they
were unceasing. Mr. Bell has been succeeded in
council as fourth member by the Hon.
John Warden, who was sworn into office by
the governor in the Town Hall on the 9th inst.,
his lordship having come down to the presidency for
the purpose, returning to Poona the following day.
Poona has been visited by deluges of rain this season,
and the whole country was inundated. Numbers of
houses in the city had fallen down, and portions of
several villages on the banks of the river been wombed
away. Never had such a downpour been experienced
in the Mahratta capital, and it was feared the whole
of the grain sown would be destroyed. The
Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer Formosa
having been ordered round to Bombay front Cal-
cutta, has just arrived: she had a narrow escape
from being wrecked.
Lord Beauclerk, 10th Hussars, has succeeded the
Hon. Capt. Fitsclarenee as aide-de-camp to the Gover-
nor. It is reported that Major Shawe, who was a
few months since suspended for six months by sen-
tence of a court martial for having meddled with the
affairs of Ali Moored, is about to retire from the ser-
vice. All the steamers but two now em-
ployed at Rangoon are to return to Bombay
immediately, should there appear no probability
of their services being any longer required on
the Irrawaddy. A rumour is said to have been in
circulation to the effect that her Majesty's 86th Foot,
a troop of horse, and a company of Foot Artillery,
with five native Infantry corps, are to be sent to
Aden, in order to be close at hand should circum-
stances require us to have a force in Egypt ; but no
belief is attached to it. It is expected that Major
Ottley's trial at the Neilgherries will end in his tri-
umphant acquittal. There are now 599 boys and
26,5 girls receiving instruction in the schools of the
"Sir J. Jcjeebhoy Parsee Benevolent Institution,"
under the able superintendence of Professor Green.
Mr. W. A. ltitchie has been appointed assistant to
the collector of continental customs and excise. The
Bank of Bombay has declared a dividend at the rate
of 6 per cent. per annum, two above its contemporary
of Madras. The Oriental Bank is about to refuse
cheques for less sums than 10/.,and large numbers of
depositors are loudly complaining at the resolution
thus suddenly taken by the Bank, which will cause
a great inconvenience to the public: it is evident the
bank wish to be rid of small deposit accounts alto-
gether, u they no doubt gave more tr:uble than
profit News ha, beau received here of the
destruction of the city of Shires, in Persia,
and of 10,000 people having been killed; ac-
counts of this catastrophe will, I dare say,
have reached home direct long before this will.
We have had, up to date, nearly 33 inches of rain,
and the monsoon has been in a great measure closed.
Bank shares are quoted as follows :—Bombay 33,
Oriental 94, Agra 60, Commercial 281 per cent.
premium. Railway shares 21 per share premium.
A large number of vessels arc still in harbour, but
most of them are engaged. 'There are such a large
number of seamen confined in the gaol and house of
correction, for refusing to work on board their ships,
that several are unable to proceed to sea for want of
hands,and seamen's wages are now very high in con-
sequence. Freights continue much as they were at
date of my last:-21. 13s to 3/. to London, and
21. 12s. 6d. to Liverpool. Money market cosy:—
Exchange 2s. lid. for six months mercantile bills,
and id. to id. more for document bills. Bank's rate
U. I#d.

MADRAS.
Sir 0. Berkeley has, it is said, sent home his
resignation of the command of the Madras army,
and it is currently reported that Sir H. Smith will
he his successor. Her Majesty's 25th Regiment, at
Cannanore, has lost one of its best and most popub'r
officers—Brevet-Major T. Deacon died of apoplexy
on the 3rd inst. Colonel Wardrope, of the 37ili
Native Grenadiers, died at Kamptee, of small-pox,
on the 21st June.

The Bank of Madras has declared a dividend for
the past six months at the rate of four per cent. per
annum—a poor look-out for the shareholders. Lieut.
H. S. Harwell, of her Majesty's 84th, has had a
narrow escape from being cashiered. He was found
guilty of having been drunk on parade, and sen-
tenced to be cashiered, the court thinking no other
sentence could be awarded; they at the same time
recommended him to mercy. That this was a mis-
take was pointed out to them by the Commander-in-
' Chief, who returned the proceedings for revision ;
when the court merely sentenced the prisoner to be
severely reprimanded. Of this Sir W. Gomm did
not "approve," but merely confirmed the sentence.
The Commander-in-Chief of Madras was at Ban-
galore on the Bth inst.