Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-07-20 00:00:00

THE DAYS' NEWS.

The state of affairs in India Continues the chie
topic of conversation in ail circles of society. The
next telegraphic intelligence Is net due before
Monday, the 27th inst., but as every effort will be
made for speed, it will doubtless be hoped for on
Sunday next, . 26th inst. In official quarters an
impression seems to be entertained that in case of
the taking of Delhi a special steamer will probably

have been despatched, and therefore it is possible
that further accounts may be received at any hour.
It is also to be remarked that if the governor of
Malta should adopt the same plan as on the last

occasion, and transmit the idvices to Cagliari,

to be forwarded by the Sardinian line of tele-
graph, the government may obtain them
considerably in anticipation of the general public.

In such case it is much to be desired that they
should be ma le known as soon as possible, in some
regular and authorised manner. A strong sus-
picion is entertained that the main points of those
last received were in the hands of speculators for
an entire day before they were properly published.
It may be assumed that the heads of the govern-
ment act with discretion on such occasions, but
when striking political news has become known to
any three or four persons and their immediate
attendants, absolute secresy is out of the question.
Moreover, in the present instance it is difficult
to understand what object can be served by con-
cealing facts which in the course of forty-eight
hours will become known to all the world through
other channels.
The Observer of yesterday remarks :—" Before
October there will be in India a British force
double—aye treble—in numbers and efficiency
any that ever appeared in the East at any former
period. And when we remember the small nu-
merical strength by which our greatest victories in
India were won, we have no fear of being able to
hold our own with the force that is already gone
or going to the rescue. In the meantime, now
that our authorities all over India are warned and
watchful, we trust they will be able to escape any
further violence from the mutinous natives, and to
punish effectually and sternly the cruelties and
treacheries that have been perpetrated upon
women and children, with a barbarity unequalled
in ancient or modern times. _ _

The Queen attended another review of the troops
at Aldershott on Saturday. The attendance of
lookers-on was as brilliant and as numerous as on
the day previous.
We learn that the deputation of Scotch bankers,
who proceeded last week to London with reference
to the Joint-Stock Company Amendment Bill,
have had very satisfactory interviews with the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Vice-President
of the Board of Trade, and the Lord Advocate,
and that the objectionable features of the bill will
not only be removed, but that there is every likeli-
hood of clauses being introduced which will enable
the unchartered banks to place themselves more
nearly on a legal equality with the chartered com-
panies.
Bacon, who was tried a short time ago at the
Central Criminal Court, with his wife, for the
murder of their two children, under circumstances
which at the time attracted a good deal of public
attention, will take his trial at the ensuing assizes
at Lincoln for the murder of his mother by
poisoning her with arsenic. It will be recollected
that Mrs. Bacon confessed to having murdered the
children herself, and she was acquitted on the
ground of insanity. Her husband was also
acquitted of that charge. Within the last few days
the astounding fact has come to light that Mrs.
Bacon has admitted that she herself administered

the poison to the prisoner's mother. The details
of the statement made by her have not been per-
mitted to appear; indeed, there is a good deal of
reserve upon the subject, as it is hardly known at
present what course the authorities intend to take
in the matter. The principal evidence against the
husband, upon the charge of murdering his
mother, cousisted of proof of the purchase of
arsenic, and his explauation of the circumstance
was, that the poison was purchased with
a view to destroy the rats with which the house
was infested. The female prisoner now states that
such was the fact, and she says that she herself
administered the arsenic to the old woman, and
that her husband knew nothing about it. It is

understood that she has stated other circumstances
which tend very strongly to show that she is
speaking the truth, and there appears to be very
little doubt that the state of her mind, at times,
is such that s may have acted under a sort of
I
uncontrollabl mpulse, and may have been hardly
aware of the nsequences of her acts. Besides
the coroner's inquisition, a bill for murder would,
under the ordinary course, be presented against
the prisoner, Thomas Bacon ; but the whole matter
will be disposed of by one trial; and if the in-
quiries still pending should tend to substantiate
the statement of the wife of the prisoner, it is
probable that no evidence will be offered against
him, and that he will be discharged without having
to undergo the ordeal of another trial.
At one of the London Police Courts, on Saturday,
• person, named Jones, was charged with stealing,
Bills of Exchange and other valuable property,
value some 3,0001. He was remanded
The prisoners charged with attempted assasina
tion in the Queen's Bauch Prison were, on Satur-
day, again brought before the magistrates, at the
Southward Police-court. Another remand took
" place. The friends of one of the prisoners offered
bail to the extent of 10,0001.; but this, at the nre-
sent stage, was refused.
The woman charged with the murder of a Mr.
Rix, in Camberwell, London, has been committed
for trial on the charge of wilful murder.
At the Police Court, on Saturday, two or three
cases of interest came before the magistrates. A
most frightful attempt at murder was made in
Frederick-street, on the previous evening. A
Frenchman stabbed a sailor about the shoulder,
and the surgeon from the Southern Hospital said
that it was a perfect miracle that he escaped with
his life. The prisoner will undergo a further
examination to.day. A person in the employ of
Mr. Joinson, of Oldhall-street, was sent for trial
on a charge of stealing three bales of cotton.
Freeman, who had been remanded 013 the charge
of robbing his employer, Mr. Bagot, of Ranelagh-
street, of some £4OO worth of property, was sent
for trial.
A black scoundrel was sent for trial by the

Birkenhead magistrates, on Saturday, for robbing
the charity box in the Catholic chapel in that
township.
The parliamentary business fixed for this Reek
is interesting, if not important. Supply and the
Probates Bill are the two first orders on the
House of Commons papers for to-day (Monday.)
To-morrow (Tuesday) the Banking Bill is down
for committee at the morning sitting, and at the
evening sitting the first notice is that Mr. Caird is
to introduce a bill to provide for the collection of
agricultural statistics in England and Wales.
Lord John Russell's New Oaths Bill stands as No. 8
in the list for the same sitting. For the Wednesday
sitting the Public Charities Bill stands first on the
paper. The Superanuation Bill is fixed for twelve
o'clock on Thursday.
A crowded meeting was held in the Corn Ex-
change, Preston, on Friday evening, on the cotton
supply question.
The news from the sister Isle is of but little
interest. The decision of the committee on the
Nrayo election has caused great excitement in that
part of Ireland. Lord John Browne imme-
diately commenced an active canvass. Colonel
Higgins was hourly expected, and everything
portends a bitter contest. The gallant colonel
deserves the support not only of every Conservative
in the county, but of every really independent
Roman Catholic, who must feel indebted for his
release from the domination of Archbishop Mac Hale
and his staff of clerical despots.
The news from abroad this morning does not
possess much importance. The bulk of our French
correspondence is taken up with details of the
funeral of Beranger the poet, which took place at
Pere la Chasse. The authorities behaved in this
instance with their usual want of tact. A circular,
signed by the Prefect of Police, and couched in no
graceful language, announced to the people
the death of the poet, which took place on
Friday afternoon, at five o'clock, and also the
fact that his remains would be honoured by a
public funeral, at the expense of the civil list.
This compliment was, however, completely spoiled
by the additional announcement, that the burial
would take place at noon on the same day. This
haste betrayed an undignified alarm that had an
unfavourable effect on the population, which did
not, and does not, dream of disturbing the peace.
This impression was not calmed down by the accu-
mulation of military forces which met the eye at
every commanding point.
From Spain we have Telegraphic despatches as
late as the 16th instant. The remains of the
insurgent bands in Andalusia have taken the
direction of the mountains to the north of Gib-
raltar. The royal troops are pressing them close,
and have already killed some forty of the rebels.
The Chamber of Deputies has suspended its
sittings.
The St. Petersburgh journals regret with great
energy certain accusations which they declare have
been made by the English press against Russia,
relative to intrigues in India. The Invalide Busse
says It is strange that although England
appears to see clearly.the direct and real causes of
the events which have just taken place, and fully
understands that they arise from the injudicious
and defective measures of the East India Company
and of the native princes, she is not content with
that conviction, but throws her own faults on the
backs of Russia and Persia."

Constantinople accounts are to the Bth inst.
The project of establishing a National Bank by
means of the Turks alone has failed, and the pro-
moters of it had thought it advisable to enter into
negotiation with Messrs. Wilkin for joining in
their project. The Grand Vizer had given a grand
dinner in his tent on the Grand Champ to the Am-
bassadors of England, France, and Russia ; and
after it he read to them the instructions which he
had prepared for the Commissioners charged to
fix the limits in Asia of the territory between
Turkey and Russia. The Ministers approved of
the instructions.
The Caucasus of Tiflis contains a report from
the Governor-General of Kutais, addressed to
General Baratinski, which announces that the fort
of Glapitchi, in Abasia, abandoned by the Russians
in 1854, has been re-occupied by the latter without
resistance. The fortifications had been partially
destroyed by the mountain tribes, but they will
be restored without delay.
The Duke and Duchess de Brabant on Wednes-
day gave a grand dinner in the palace at Brussels
to the Count d'Archinto, sent to that city by the
Austrian government to demand the hand of the
Princess Charlotte for the Archduke Maximilian.
A correspondent, writing from Vienna to the
Borsenhalle of Hamburg, professes to be ac-
quainted with the topics discussed by the Emperor
of Austria and the King of Prussia during
the recent meeting. He says :—" The Holstein
question and that of the Customs Union
formed the principal subjects of conversation,
but it is not thought that any great progress
was made in the latter question towards the re-
moval of the difficulties which opriose the admis-
sion of Austria into the Zollverein. It is incor-
rect to say that the two sovereigns conversed on the
subject of the principalties, for the views enter-
tained by their respective governments are too
much opposed to lead to any hope of an arrange-
ment."

The Piedmontese cabinet experienced a slight
check in the Senate on the 11th, when the bill for
a new convention with the Transatlantic Company
of Genoa, strongly advocated by the Minister of
Finance, was rejected by a majority of 32 to 2.1.

SUPP3SING the scheme to be practicable, it would
seem on the first look of the thing, that a canal
linking the Red Sea with the Mediterranean must
be highly advantageous to the commerce, the peace,
and the civilisation of the world. Accordingly,
when M. LESSEPS, from France, visited this country
a short time since, in order to elicit the views of
commercial men in Britain and Ireland, he
was supported by their unanimous approval. The
Chamber of Commerce in Liverpool, Manchester,
Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, &c., all passed resolu-
tions in favour of the undertaking, and in agree-
ment with the views of M. LESSEPS. And the
project of this gentleman is not a wild scheme
originating in his own heated brain, but it rests on
the declared conviction arrived at after a scientific
survey by engineers and scientific men of many
nations, that the scheme is practicable. It was,
therefore, with some surprise and regret that we
read the other evening of Lord PALMERSTON'S
decided opposition to it. Not that this materially
disturbs our conviction that the undertaking will
really be carried out if it is feasable, and if the
public mind of England should be convinced that
it is so.

The opposition of • minister or of a mini-
stry is no serious obstacle in England; it may
delay the change and cause the matter to be more
thoroughly sifted and canvassed, but it cannot in
the end resist the growing impetus of public
opinion. But in the present instance we fail to
find any good and substantial reasons on which
the Premier grounds his opposition ; and he is not
the man to miss them if there were any to be found ,
or to mistate them if they would bear telling. The
noble Lord, however, assigns two reasons, both of
them utterly unworthy of a Prime Minister of Eng-
land, and discreditable to his lordship's under-
standing and sagacity. First, tha Suez Canal, we
are told, would tend to sever Egypt from Turkey,
by aggrandising the land of Israel's ancient bond-
age, and so enabling it to set up as an independent
kingdom for itself; and, nest, it would give the
French access to our Indian possessions, and aid