Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-05 00:00:00

THE DAY'S NEWS.

There is but little news this morning. The
state of affairs in India continue the all-absorbing
topic, and ialthough it is hardly a week since we
published the details received per the last overland
. mail, the public seem to be impatient to have
further tidings. But this they could not possibly
have before the lapse of another week Le Nord,
of Brussels, publishes a long letter from its special
eorreapondent in India, but which a London
sotemporary insinuates was written much nearer
home—be th.at as it may, there are several
interesting facts contained in the despatch. The
writer, after detailing the events which have
recently been described in our columns, states that
the government is originating a regiment of Sikhs,
gives & description of the Indian army; what it has
been, what it is, and what it ought to he, and pro_
eeeds to say—" Far from appreciating and practising
.the virtue of toleration, the one towards the ether,
the Mahomedans and Mahrattas look upon it as a
mere delusion, or a sign of weakness. Since they
have been allowed to have a voice in the Indian
Government, and since re have treated them with
the most perfect familiarity, they have encouraged
the belief among themselves that such conduct on
our part but serves to conceal some sinister project,
and that we contemplate making them Christians
upon one day or another, either by deceit or by
compulsion. So far they judge accordinr, to their
own tactics. • Every time that the Mahomedans
have seized upon the Hicdoos they have put the
Brahmins to death, and have compelled the
Hindoos to embrace Islamism. On the other hand
when the chiefs of the INlaltrattas have captured
the Mussulmans, they have treated them in such
a way as to render their existence intolerable to
them. We might very easily argue against those
suspicions, but wo shall never be able to
eradicate them ; and the necessary result
of this state of things is that, without a
strong European army, we cannot either main-
tain our position in India or preserve the
population of the country from religious persecu-
tions or anarchy. These premises admitted, the
re-organisation of our military system in India is
imperiously demanded, not only by existing
circumstances but also to secure our conquests for
the future. According to competent authorities
that rc-organisation ought to be founded upon two
principal bases. Ia the first place the Angle-
Indian army ought to be composed henceforward
of at least one third of British troops. Every
brigade of division should have a quarter-master-
general in hostile places, and the fortifi.,iations and
garrisons of those places should be maintained of
sufficient strength to resist either insurrection or
foreign invasion. The letter concludes in the follow-
ing words. The mass of the English established at
Calcutta regard the terrible crisis through which
we are passing with a determined aspect, and
without entertaining a doubt as to the future.
That crisis imposes on us the most enormous sacri-
lees. We hesitate not, we shall never hesitate, to
make them. Our Government has confidence in
this spirit ; and even should the two other presi-
dencies be subjected to the same calamities our
courage will never be weakened, —it would in that
case be rather redoubled. Without doubt our
eyes are fixed upon the mother country, and upon
the assistance which we are expecting from it, and
which is now beginning to arrive ; hut if, in the
interval, the danger should become still more
imminent, the local Government may calculate to
the furthest limits upon our devotion and upon our
entire abnegation ; and at the last extremities, even
we shall thank it, as the Venetians thanked their
senator, for never having once despaired of the
safety of India.

The London Journals of last night publish a
letter written by Mr. Melvi le on behalf of the
East India Directors, declaring that they sanction
the measures adopted by the government at Cal-
cutta to gag the Indian Press. One of our metro-
politan a3temporaries thus alludes to the
subject:.Thel East Indian Company appear to
be resolved upcn the perpetration of a policy at
once despotic and suicidal. We have, however,
the satisfaction of knowing that public opl.nion
is daily expressing itself more and more in favour
of the political extinction of the incapables of
Leadenhall-street.

Our police reports this morning show that Mr.
J. R. Jeffrey was ve,'y determined, but not more
than he ought, against the system of sending out
the police in plain clothes to entrap unwary beer-
house keepers and publicans, for the purpose of
bringing informations and having them flo3d for
Sunday trading. We have already denounced the
system, but have something more to say upon the
subject. Would that Mr. Jeffrey presided on the
bench every Friday, their would be fewer of the
publicans and beerhouse eases, less hard swearing,
a►nd fewer injuries inflicted upon innocent trades-
men. Another attempt was made to mulct Mr.
Wick} am, but after the decision in the Recorder's
Court it was deemed advisable to withdraw the
information.

The other local news this morning is of a very
meagre and uninteresting desoription.
Respecting election matters, there are several
facts of interest worth recording. Mr. Arthur
Russell, who wished to confer upon Tavistock the
honour of representing it in Parliament, declined
to attend a pubEc assembly by whose decision he
was requested to abide. The public meeting was
held without his presence, and a resolution was
unanimously passed, declaring that he was not a
At and proper person to represent the borough.
On Thursday tha nomination to )k place, the
candidates being Mr. Russell and Mr. Edward
The show of hands WAS dec:ared in favour
of the latter gentleman, and a poll was demanded,
which was to take place yesterday, but as
yet the telegraph has - not put us in
possession of the result. We regret to say that
during the nomination the hustings gave way and
one lad was killed, and several persons severely
injured. This is the third time we have been called
upon to record similar accidents Greenwich has
been favoured with the offer of the services of
Another Liberal candidate the son of the Lord
Chief Justice, who declares that the Ballot is the
Reform measure which he looks forward to with
the greatest hope and confidence. Greenwich
should call a public meeting, and make the
decision of that meeting foal as to the candidate
the Liberal party will support. This was the
course which Birmingham took, and at Greenwich

it might prevent the representation falling into
the hands of the Lories. When tha House of
Commons re-assembles, a petition against the
return of Major Edwards for Beverley will have to
be tried, for two members of the Bever!ey Town
Council have signed such a document, and caused
it to be sent up to London.

There. is rather important news from the con-
tinent this morning. In Paris the withdrawal of
some of the directors of the Credit Mobilier has
caused a panic at the Bourse, which shows that
the French themselves have not mush reliance in
the stability of that gigantic institution for the
centralisation of commercial enterprise. The
Emperor is still at. the Camp at Chalons, where
great bustle prevails. Stuttgard is now named as
the place where he will meet the Emperor of
Russia. The choice is undoubtedly dictated by
rho relations of both sovereigns to the King of
Wurtemberg. The sympathies of the Wurtemberg
people would justify it far less.
The French journals are expressing their
discontent at the tenacity with which the Govern..
merits of England and Austria are still said to
oppose the project of a united government over
the Danubian principalities, even in the case the
Divan should declare itself in favour of such a
measure. Letters from Vienna say that the
Austrian Foreign minister and the English
Ambassador are constan ly engaged in exchanging
communications between themselves and in cor-
responding with Constar tinople.
The gravest, but not tL e most unexpected news,
we have to record is the recommendation by the
Special Constitutional cemmittee of the Holstein
Diet at Itzehoe, of a rejection " pure et simple"
of the constitutional draft, by which the King of
Denmark has again sought to cenoilia.te his Ger-
man subjects. We lot% ago decribed the feeling
in the Duobies as exclusively directed to the main-
tenance of their treaty-rights, and nothing but
these rights which the new constitutional draft
utterly failed to recognise. There is no doubt,
that the Diet will tilt upon the recommendation
of the Committee, and the King of Danmark
will then have to come to terms with the Getman
Federal Diet at Frankfort, which claims the
supreme judgment in the matter. The only hope
for the preservation of peace is, that Europe will
allow the question to be treated as an exclusively
federal one, to effect which, the federal body will,
no doubt, show itself to be animated by a spirit of
justice and moderation.

The offi3al Gazette publishes the Concordat
recently con3lud2d between the Protestant state of
\Vurtemburg and the Holy See

The.r9:una of the Wink of England is rather
more satisfa3tory this week. The bullion in the
Bank coffErs, on the 28. h ult., as per the Gazette of
last night, was 11,500,5871, being an increase of
370,4501 upon the return of the previous wevk.

All other subjects are just now swallowed up
by the state of affairs in India. Hence it is that
this and this alone is the prevailing topic of the
day. And while the national mind is bent upon
a most signal retribution for the cruelties and
barbarities practised not only upon the British
forces, but their defenceless wives and children,
there is an evident desire upon the part of all
far-seeing politicians to arrive at some legitimate
conclusion how and why the Bengal army has
mutinied. The eyes of the whole civilised world
are upon us just now. The continent of Europe,
the United States, the kingdoms of South and
Central America, the republic of Mexico, and
the ruling princes of other quarters of the globe
are looking on, and with a feeling something.
akin to anxiety, desire to glean from the
struggle going on a renewed test of our national
greatness, the strength of our military system,
the permanency and capability of our resources,
the capacity of our leading statesmen, the
prestige of our name, the tangibilityand actual
worth of our commercial pretensions, and the
boasted greatness of our progress in civilisation.
On each and all of these important points, Eng-
land, by her conduct and actions in the mighty
struggle in which she is engaged, must main'ain
the supremacy. Under such circumstances, she
must look the danger which now surrounds her
name and character in all the respects alluded
to with determination and manliness. Although
our first object should be to inflict summary and
condign punishment upon every one who has
acted the part of a traitor and inhuman
butcher in Bengal, and thereby vindicate
the invincible character of our arms, we should
ever.bear in mind that to imitate the savage
atrocities of the Indian sepoys,—turn Delhi
into a heap of ruins, and, as it were, leave no
trace of its former existence and greatness, can
add but little to our fame as military heroes,
or our moral and religious character as the
pioneer of civilisation and religion.
Again, in putting down the wide-spread
mutiny, and once more obtaining complete
sway and rule over the Indian Empire, the
future government of its countless population
must be settled so as to ensure contentment
among the natives, and a hearty and unre-
served appreciation of the motives and inten-
tions of British authority in all_ the Presidencies.
From what we know upon this subject, we
have no hesitation in saying that much of the
emeute which has taken place is easily traced
to the doors of the happy family which holds its
meetings in Leadenhall-street—commonly called
the East India Company. The proceedings.of
that body, and the control exercised 'over its
actions as the de facto rulers of India, by the
executive power in Downing-street, have become
so transparent of late, that nothing more remains
to be said respecting them than that they are
14i
imbecile and reprehensible n the extreme. If
any thing were wanting to prove this position,
we might just allude to the stupid and unac-
countable neglect of taking advantages of the
navigable capacities of the river Hooghly. One
of our powerful three-deckei screw steamers
could lie within range of Calcutta, which, with
three or four war frigates of smalle: dimensions.
would ensure perfect security and confidence
among the European merchants of that city.
This would enable the soldiers quartered in that
garrison to proceed into the interior, arrive
before the gates of Delhi, and at once crush the
rebellion between that stronghold of mutiny,
Allahabad, and Agra. Our gun boats, so much
vaunted in the Crimean war, have been kept at
home. A few have been sent to China, but
where their services are most required, and
would be] invaluable, they are kept away.

this a state of things to be endured ? Shall the
honour and majesty of England—shall her
brave soldiers—their innocent wives and helpless
children—be slaughtered, ad libitum, by fero-
cious Hindoos, in consequence of the downright
stupidity and official indifference of "Mr. SMITH,
of Cannon-row," or the ignorance, and a portion
of undue self-esteem of "Mr. Ross DONNELY
MANGLES ?" Every true subject of the British
throne is interested in giving a true response to
these inquiries.
The more we read of the private ad vices from
the rebellious districts of India, the more we
are confirmed in the remarks we have just made,
and our fears are greatly increased lest the next
intelligence may bring us facts and realities
even more fearful, atrocious, and a ppaling, than
any which has yet reached us. Lucknow, the
localiity where the brave and heroic LAWRENCE
fell a prey to the brutalities of the Sepoys,
was in a most difficult p)sition. The
last advices tell us that the English forces
were so overpowered that they were com-
pelled to abandon the town lines and
retreat into the fort. At that time they were
provisioned only for five weeks, on short allow=
ance ; so that should reinforcements not speedily
arrive, the fate of Kars, without any of the
civilised deeds which accompanied its surrender,
awaits that Indian fortress. The prospect of
General HAVELOCK being able to make his way
from Cawnpore to relieve Lucknow were but
feeble, seeing that the course he had to march
was one of dreary swamps, and the rainy season
had set in, whilst the General and his force were
surrounded on all sides by disciplined mutineers
and a hostile population.
How stood it with Agra ? Not much better
than at Lucknow. That fort, it is true, was
more strongly defended ; but its extent, and the
numbers of women and non-combatants of all
kinds were so large, that if they could be extri-
cated large numbers of fresh troops must be
marched to that garrison. GOD grant that the
next mail may not bring us another chapter of
cruelties and murders, from both Lucknow and
Agra, harrowing to the feelings of every patriot
and Christian. We only hope that our fears
respecting these places are ill-founded, and that
when the next mail arrives we shall learn that all
is safe. Nevertheless, we have to prepare for
the worst. The evil results of the mutiny,
although not so quick in its effects at home, have
already paralysed some branches of our trade
with India. To these, and other matters relating
thereto, we shall again refer.

IT would seem that fault-finding is an occu-
pation not altogether unpleasant, and the task is
specially easy if the Government is its object. It
would be strange if we could witness the end of
a Session of Parliament without a growl or two
that .more work was not done in it. The late
Session may not\ have come up to our desires or
expectations in the amount of business trans-
acted, hut it has been better than many, and is,
on the whole, creditable to the industry and
independence of our representatives. They
might have done better, perhaps ; but, as cer-
tainly, they might have done worse. If we
mistake not, there has been less of mere speech-
making and more of working—less of parade
and more of result. Though the House was
chosen under the auspices of the Prime Minister,
and was the answer to his appeal, yet it cannot
be said that they have proved entirely subservient
and indiscriminate supporters of Lord PALMER-
STON. The Government was beaten on the
question of the superannuation allowances, and
they had nothing to do but to take the beating,
which they wisely did. If the Jewish Admission
Bill was a failure, the Matrimonial Bill was a
success, or, at least, a great improvement. And in
the people's House the Jewish Bill was entirely
successful ; our hereditary legislators have the
honour of still perpetrating a wretched shred of
a system of persecution now worn out and alien
to the feelings of the nation. But even Lords
must yield to the will of the people of England,
and next session will probably see the Jew and
the Christian sitting side by side. Fraudulent
breaches of trust had become so fearfully multi-
plied of late ;—they had seemed so gratuitous
and unprincipled, that the Legislature was forced
to attempt the application of a remedy. This
was a reform greatly needed ; and though evil-
minded men will still be ingenious in finding
out methods to evade the best constructed laws,
it is well to make the evasion as difficult as pos-
sible, and to increase the inducements to right
conduct.

In the matter of secondary. punishments, we
consider that we are only in the commencing
stage. Society is experimenting on the mode
of dealing with crime, and has yet much to learn.
Sooner or later the time must come when trans-
portation will be impossible, or at least extremely
difficult and inconvenient. But long before
that time arrives, we shall have learned how
to prevent the growth of a criminal popu-
lation. Lunatic asylums in Scotland were
a disgrace to the nation and to the age,
especially after England had given so
many successful examples of treating the
insane on principles of kindness and humanity.
We might especially instance the enlightened
principles and great success of Dr. CONOLLY, at
the Hanwell Asylum, near London. We
remember once to have paid a visit to an Asylum
near Birmingham, where this unfortunate class
of persons was treated with the kindness that
should attend human creatures who have suffered
that saddest of human afflictioni—the eclipse o