Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-04 00:00:00

is circumscribed, particularly in matters of educa-
tion, The Pope is said to have acknowledged
that any such change as he contemplated would
be untimely at present, owing to the popularity
with which the laws in question are regarded by
the p

The kmperor of Austria, who left Presburg on
the 27th ult,, by railway,to continue his journey in
Hungary had a narrow escape: at Hobulkut the
locomotive ran off the rails with such violence that
oce of the wheels broke, and the whole train was
dragged off, and stuck fast in the ground. After
some delay his majesty resumed his journey, and
in the evening reached Bolasso-Gyarmath.
According to advices from Vienna there are
hopes that diplomatic relations will soon be
resumed between the Court of Naples and those
of Paris and Lnidon. M Caraffa, the Neapolitan
Minister for Foreign Affahs, having requested of '
Couut Buol in a despatch in his own handwriting
that Austria would interfere in the re-establishment
of friendly relations between the three Courts, the
Austrian Ministers at the Courts of London and
Paris have taken steps for this purpose, and we
understand that they will result in a speedy
settlement of the matter.
By the steam ship Fulton arrived at Southamp-
ton en route to Havre, we have New York news of
the 22nd ult. They are for the most part unim-
portant. The President had issued a proclama-
tion declaring the treaty of commerce and friend-
ship,
between the United States and Persia of
binding force. In addition to the ambassador or
diplomatic agent near each Government, it pro-
' vides for Persian Consuls at Washington, New
York, and New Orleans, and United States Con-
suls at Teheran, Bender, Bushire, and Tamis-
The treaty is to continue in force fnr 10 years. A
mass meeting had been held at New York to raise
funds for the Nicaragua Fillihusters, but it proved
a failure. Full details of the news will be found
in another column.

AT the present moment every thing having
reference to, or connected with India, possesses
deep interest to the people of the United King-
dom. There is hardly a single family in Great
Britain and Ireland, as well as the British
Provinces of North America and portions of the
United States, which has not relatives, near or
distant, who are now serving their Sovereign
and their country in putting down the Bengal
mutineers. For these reasons it is with satisfac-
tion that we perceive a combination of efforts are

on foot for the purpose of organising a more
direct and rapid communication between England
and the leading seaports of India. These are
the plans of General CHE NEY, for a line of rail-
way by the Euphrates Valley, the proposed
scheme for navigating the rivers in India, and
the projected line of telegraph by the Red Sea.

When we consider what has been passing in
Bengal for some months, the butcheries and

the brutalities perpetrated not only upon the
courageous heroes of our country, but their
defenceless wives and children, and also reflect
that although 25,000 men have sailed from
England for the scene of these disasters since the
Ist of July, still, a great length of time will
have elapsed before the military relief sent out
can:be of any avail; the importance of a shorter
and more direct route becomes apparent, and
incites in the breast of every patriot and philan-
thropist feelings of wonder—not unfrequently
mingled with indignation—that steps have not
been taken long ere this to construct and main-

possessions. It should be borne in mind that
had this been the case, there would
not, probably, have been any emelt te
in Bengal. The rebels who have disputed our
sovereignty and authority, and who have acted
so barbarously upon all who came under their
power, have relied on the distance which sepa-
rates them from the seat of the supreme Govern-
ment. Depending that they could massacre
the English, and be free from the vengeance of
of our mighty army, they proceeded on from
one deed of blood and brutality to another, until
the whole presidency of Bengal became a sea of
human gore calling for retribution and vengeance.
They also imagined that before England could
pour in her reinforcements, the insurrection in
India would be general, and that the ancient
dynasty of the Moguls would be restored, and
Bengal, Bombay, and Madras pronounced inde-
pendent. Happily this has not come to pass.
The scheme of the rebellious and traitorous
sepoys has been frustrated, owing to the fact that
the mutiny was not only partial but because the
heroic bravery of the few hald.fuls of British
soldiers who met them completely upset all their
arrangements. But had we had a more direct
and expeditious mode of despatching troops to
India—could we have sent them from London
to Kurrachee in less than half the time occupied
in the transit by the Red Sea,—how much life
would have been saved, and how much British
blood would have been unskilled, not to speak
of other brutal indignities inflicted upon the
innocent and fair daughters of England, and their
beloved offspring. Nay, more ; the honor and
supremacy of England's flag would have remained
unquestioned, and_ revolt and anarchy been un-
heard of.

With regard to this particular matter, General
CHESNEY has just read a paper at the British
Association, in which he recapitulates all his
former arguments in favour of the Euphrates
valley, and shows pretty clearly that it possesses
facilities of no minor importance over every
other route. He intimated, too, in pretty plain
language, that, as matters now exist, there might
be much greater expedition in the transport of
troops to India, if we had at the head of affairs
a statesman influenced by some of that untiring
energy, prompt decision, and well regulated
enterprise which marked the memorable career
of NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. History tells us
that, in 1809, that great General, emulous of
treading in the footsteps of ALEXANDER the
Great—who marched more than 19,000 miles in
his progress of Asiatic conquest—formed the
project of transporting a force down the
Euphrates, for the purpose of subjucratinc, India.
t 7,
His troops were to be conveyed on rafts, con-
structed of the timber that grows on the banks

of the river, General CHESNEY is of opinion
that with a small modicum of NAPOLEON
BONAPARTE'S activity and daring, we could at
this very moment do the same, and with much
greater facility. Besides, the same distin-
guished officer shows that reinforcements to a
large extent might be formed on the way to
India, inasmuch as the garrisons in the Mediter-
ranean could afford to contribute at least 7,400
men, part of which could go through Egypt,
and the rest be carried in a fe Ar days by Admiral
LYONS to the mouth of the Orontes, whence their
transit to the seat of war would be easy and
expeditious. Under the existing state of affairs
it is a bounden duty to test the practicability
of General CHESNEY'S suggestions. They are
not the result of hasty and crudely formed
ideas. They are his matured opinions, after
observation and experience of twenty years
standing. But it is not only in a military point
of view we are to consider the advantages to be
adopted by an easy and expeditious route to India.
Itsultimate effect upon commerce and civilisation
are equally, although not so speedily, important.
It would enable us to develope the resources of
India—afford employment to millions of our
fellow-subjects at home, and the natives of
the vast territories belonging to that extensive
empire. China, too, would reap advantage, whilst
Turkey, Australia, and even America would bless
us for the beneficial effects of such rapid corn
munication with Hindostan.

Whilst earnestly approving of some plan to
curtail the length of the journey to India, the
project of introducing a better system of navi-

gating its rivers, so as to reach far into the
interior, is equally deserving of attention and
encouragement. The mighty hordes of English
soldiers which we can pour into the disaffected
provinces will conquer and overawe the rebels.

But that conquest will not secure a loyal and
well-disposed people. It is only by means of
trade, and constant employment for the millions,

that we can make them contented and happy
under foreign rule. The proper navigation of
the Indian rivers is a happy thought, and, as

such, we hope it will be taken up, and promptly
promoted and seconded, by men of influence and
capital. It is projects such as these that will do
more for us in retaining the plwer and control

over the countless hordes of India, than British
artillery, or the devastating charge of the bayonet,
the rattle of musketry, or the deadly conflict of

well-sharpened sabres.

THE Pike had its doom sealed on Wednesday,
and a hapless doom it was. Not a voice was
raised, or a hand held up, in favour of the foul
monstrosity which was unceremoniously repu•
diated even by its former ardent panygerists—
even that great Pike oracle, Mr. SAMUEL HOLME,
confessed to having been disappointed in the

• Lathu LUG Wittel; OLIII, tie was
"willing to take his share of the responsibility"
of the job ! Very fine, this, Mr. HOLME ; but
what do you mean. by the term "responsibility?"
—are you, and the other Pikeists, prepared to
refund to the inhabitants of Liverpool the million-
and-a-half sterling which has been unpardonably
misapplied by the promoters of the abortion ?
If such is not your meaning, then let us
hear no more of your incurring this, that, or the
other share of responsibility, which means simply
pshaw—fudge !

Mr. HOLME " cautioned the Council against
rushing headl3ng into any rash undertaking at
that moment, when the public mind was in such
a state, lashed as it had been by one—and, he
was happy to say, only one—of the Liverpool
newspapers, for that_ was the way the thing had
stirred up." Like Mr. HOLME, we are
quite willing to accept the responsibility of all
we have written on the subject of water supply ;
and we are glad to learn that Mr. HOLME has
profited by
,the same, for, in his concluding
remarks, he not only embodies the sentiments,
but he makes use of the very language which
appeared in the one journal on the very morning
of the meeting of Council. We have, in what we
have written on the subject of Water Supply,
been influenced by higher motives than a
desire to excite popular passion or preju-
dice ; and, in place of " lashing" the pUblic
mind into a state of excitement, our
constant object has been to allay all such
on either side of the question. We have written
the truth for the sake of truth, and although we
may have used, and will continue to use, forcible
language in denouncing the vilest fraud ever
perpetrated on this or any other community,
yet we can loJk back on every article we have
written on the subject, and their name is legion,
without any feeling of remorse, or the slightest
wish that we could recal a single word. Can
Mr. HOLME say the same about his speeches
With us there have been no private feelings to
indulge—no partizan patrons to gratify at the
sacrifice of principle. As public journalists, on
a vital question, we have performed our duty
to the public ; and we have carefully abstained
from either saying or doing ought calculated to
injure the private character of those who con-
scientiously differed from our views. We only
wish we could say as much for Mr. HoLmE and
some other Pikeists. We have no desire to claim
the entire honour which Mr. HOLME would cjnfer
upon us as "being the only journal in Li.cerpool
which has brought
.the Pike to its present dead
lock." That we have done our utmost is very
true, but we are proud in reckoning amongst
our fellow journalists many who have shown
themselves equally consistent with:ourselves in
opposition to the job, if not at all times so