Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-10-17 00:00:00

rear. General Nicholson was sent out against
them with his division, and completely defeated
them, capturing 12 pieces. It is—believed that the
• flee.] assault on the imperial city will not be much
longer delayed. Sir CALI Campbell, it is rumoured,
has sent no orders to make short work of it, and
General Wilson is not the man to retard the
execution of such an order a single hem-.
"The province of Behar, and the. districts
around the cities of Benares, Patna, and Mirze-
pore are still in an unsettled state, but in all of
them the Mohurrum passed without any decided
manifestation of insurrection. At Benares, indeed,
an imp' egnable fortress has beep erected near Raj
Ghat on the bank of the river, commanding the
whole city, so that the smallest demonstration
could be most effectually quelled. That city is
therefore safe. Patnah, too, has continued quiet.
That it has remained so is duo entirely to the
exertions of Mr. William Taylor, wbo overawed the
natives by a judicious course of severity.
" Sir Colin Campbell, it is believed, will leave for
the north west ie about a month, and, taking up
Havelock's force, will open direct communications
with Delhi. There are several first rate officers
in Calcutta waiting for employ, who will be glad
to accompany him.
0 The past fortnight has been one of almost
unequalled pressure in the money market, the
Bank of Bengal having refused to dis-
count Court of Directors' bills with more
than 60 days to run, or to make and
renew loans upon government paper to the other
banks. The immedia`e cause of these steps is be-
lirved to be the crippled position the Benk direc-
tors find themselves in by having advanced to a
large extent upon Company's paper, without re-
serving a sufficient margin to speculators and
others who have left the Bank in the lurch with the
paper. not being able to take up the loans or to pay
the difference between what it is really worth and
the amount advanced upon it by the Bank. We
leave our readers to judge of the wisdom and ability
which govern the Bank of Bengal, and which has
produced such a state of things. We have since
beard that two if our local banks, which held a large
amount of Court of Directors' bills, finding them
inconvertible into cash, applied to the Government
to pay them under discount, which has been
granted under the special circumstauces,and will,no
doubt, afford some rend to the fair-trading public,
whose interests have been so ruthlessly sacrificed
by the directors of the Bank of Bengal to the spe-
culators and jobbers in Company's paper.
Exchange opened at 2s 21,d for first class six
months' sight bills, and, in consequence of the
pressure in the money market, advanced to 23 311,
but closes a trifle easier.
Tho Calcutta Englishman of the 9th September
makes the following somewhat gloomy observ,a-
tions
"We yesterday published news from Delhi to
the 2Gth of August, by which it will be seen that
Delhi still holds out, and that no positive date can
yet be fixed for its reduction. With regard to other
districts, so far from peace and good order being
re, established, disorder and rebellion have extended
to provinces which in June were perfectly tranquil.
The greater part of Behar and the south-western
frontier of Bengal are in confusion, and the im-
portant district of Goruckpore has been abandoned
by the order of this Government. The garrison of
Lucknow has not been relieved, and it appears
unlikely that our troops can reach it before the
end of this month The mutineers and insurgents,
though contemptible in the field, are so numerous
as to throw great difficulties in the wayof an advan-
cing force and the season in which every stream is
overflowing and the country almost impassable is
an additional obstacle to military operations. At this
season, too, the exposure of a campaign inevitably
produces much sickness, and our European soldiers
have suffered severely from it, We expect some
reinforcements during the present month, and by
the end of October we may reasonably hope for the
arrival of a force sufficient to put down rebellion in
these provinces. Its fate in Upper India muss be
decided by troops sent up the Indus and the Pun-
jaule levies. Order and obedience may then indeed
be restored, and an entire new system adopted,
whether military or civil. It is too soon to specu-
late upon the course that ought to be or will be
pursued ; at present it is sufficient to record events
which follow in such rapid succession, and which
must ultimately determine the measures to be
adopt( d.
" We observe that the home authorities boast of
the alight depreciation which the rebellion has
caused in Government securities.. In the revolted
eietricts Company's paper for the last three
months has been sold at 50 to 85 per cent. dis-
count ! This, however, affords no criterion of
public opinion, as much so offered may either have
been plundered from its rightful owners, or been
the property of these in open rebellion, to whom
it was valueless. But here at the seat of Govern-
ment, and the centre of money transactions, the
fall has been steady and considerable. Five per
cent. paper has been sold at 12, and four per cent.
paper at 2.1 per cent. discouna and no considerable
sum could be disposed of even at a much lower
rate.
"The Bank of Bengal last week issued a circular
to the other local banks, announcing that the
directors have resolved upon declining to make
any loans or opening cash credits on, deposit of
Company's paper, and that all appli;ations for
renewal of existing loans or cash credits must be
submitted for the special consideration of tne
directors.
" This measure, at a moment when the approach-
ing Doorgah Pocjah hollidays naturally create an
increased call for accommodation, will be product-
ive of serious inconvenience, and may be attended
with disastrous consequences to the mercantile
community and to trade in general.
" The Bank of Bengal ought to have drawn in
its horns the day after the news of the Delhi
massacre arrived. But the geverntnent directors
have acted like inexperienced navigators, who trust
they can carry sail through what they deem and
assert to be a mere passing squall, while more
experienced seamen have already made all snug
in expectation of the coming hurricane."