Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-08-17 00:00:00

A TELEGRAPH TO INDIA.

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MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 1857.

THE DAY'S NEWS.

The House of Commons had a sitting on Satur-
day. Mr. John Locke presented a petition from
Mr. E. A. Glover, the late member for Beverley,
prayintz for an inquiry into his qualification, on
account of which his election was declared void.
The Speaker ruled that the question having already
been settled by a select committee, could not again
be entertained, and the petition could not be
received. The Charitable Trusts Act Continu-

ance Bill, the Mutiny (East India) Bill, and

the Parochial Schoolmasters (Scotland) Bill,
were read a third timo and passed, The
Militia Bill went through committee. In
reply to Mr. Hadfield, the Lord Advocate
said he had been in communication with the Lord

Chancellor on the subject of putting Scotch con
firmations on the same footing as English and
Irish probates, and he should lose no time next ses-
sion in doing for Scotland what was in course of
being done for England and Ireland. During the
consideraf on of the Appropriation Bill, a strong
appeal was made by Mr. Caird in support of a grant
for a museum in Edinburgh, which had previously
been negatived in committee of supply. The Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer declared that nothing could
be done this session with reference to*the grant,
but promised to re-introduee it next session. The
Customs' and Excise Bill, and the Jurisdiction in
Siam Bill went through committee. The Probates
and Letters of Administration (Ireland) Bill was
considered as amended and ordered for third
reading.
The Ministerial white-bait dinner at Greenwich
did not take place on Saturday as was anticipated
would he the case. It is postponed to Wednesday
next. It is still expected that the prorogation of
Parliament may take place upon the appointed
day—namely, Saturday next, the 22nd. But when
we look at the delays in the debates upon the
Divorce Bill, we fear that the session may be
prolonged half a week, or even an entire week
- longer. The Consolidated Fund Bill—containing
the clause for appropriating the money votes of
the session—has be.ua read a first and a second
time in the Commons, has gone through com-
mittee, and was reported to the House on Satur-
day, and may be read a third time to day, and sent
to the Lords, where it will be passed in three or
four days. So far all is prepared for the proroga-
tion. " But," says the Observer of yesterday, " the

Government is resolved not to give up the Divorce
Bill, nor to have the same dilatory proceedings
over again in another session. Thay are resolved
to keep the session open till the Divorce Bill is
passed. of wbich there are, however, some trouble-
some clauses, to be yet passed, in the face of a
" factious opposition." The proceedings in the
House of Commons tc-morrow will decide the
question. No one can tell what course such an
opposition as Gladstone and Co will take, even
when the real question at issue is virtually decided.
If the gentlemen of the Commons make way with
the Divorce Bill to-morrow, they may be relieved
from the labours of a long session on Saturday
next. If not- the Divorce Bill must, at all
events be passed."
The state of affairs in India continues to absorb
the attention of the public. The news by the last
mail is not looked upon as so discouraging as was
expected. It is gratifying to know that the Bombay
and Madras armies remain still perfectly quiet and
undisturbed, Even in Calcutta and sonic parts of
the Bengal Presidency, several of the regiments
which have been disarmed have memorialised the
Government to have their arms restored to them,
and ask to be afforded an opportunity of displaying
their loyalty by assisting in suppressing the mutiny
among their faithless comrades. Meanwhile re-
inforcements are hurrying on with all the speed
of steam, and, we trust, favourable winds, to the
scene of action ; and two of the regiments which
were on their way to China have already landed
in Calcutta. The populations of India take no
part with the mutineers, and thus, deprived of the
sympathy and assistance of the millions, weakened
by discord among their leaders, by insubordination
among themselves, and hemmed in by the rapidly-
increasing British and loyal native forces, the
sickening drama of the Indian mutiny may shortly
be expected to close with a retribution, which,
however sanguinary, could not be too severe, and
which, while serving as a lasting warning to the
natives of India, will not be without its effect in
awakening in this country a deeper sense of the
duties and responsiblities of those in whose hands
is vested the government of our magnificent Indian
Empire.
The Right Hon. E. Cardwell was entertained at
a dinner in Oxford on Friday. The company was
very large and enthusiastic. Mr. Pike, the chair-
man of the election committee, presided, and gave
the health of their guest, when Mr. Cardwell
replied, and chiefly dwelt upon the crisis i❑ India,
viewing the matter with the eyes of a cautious
statesman. He also alluded to the quevien of
reform, but here he said nothing beyond pledging
himself to take a liberal and comprehensive view
of the suvi!ct. A speech was als ) made by Mr.
Roundel] Palmer, whose views harmonise with
those of Mr. Cardwell.

Major-General Windham, M.P., was entertained
at dinner on Thursday, at Norwich, previous to
leaving England for his new Indian command.
The Hon. W. Rous was in the chair, and all the
notabilities of tits county were present General
Windham mule a long speech in reply to the
toast to his lanc2,l insisting much upon the desira-
bleness of a more thorough military organiz tlion ,
and a grea•cr facility of augmenting the army when
required : proposing, as a necessary means to attain
this end, a ballot militia .

In anoLhir column wilt be found full particulars
respecting the loss of a p-rition of the Atlantic
telegraph cable. It will be seen that 335 nautical
miles length of the cable has been lost, the hs.
100 miles of it being in water over two miles deep.
The expedition h Is for the present re`ureed to
Engl tnd, and it is not know❑ whether any further
operations will take place before next summer. A
meeting of the directors will be held on Wednes-
day, to decide upon what course is to be taken.
For more ti a i ten days past the rain has pre-
vailed mere or less in the United Kingdom, and
this week harvest work has been entirely interrupted
in many pants of the country. In the eastern
counties about onc-fourth of the wheat crop is
secured in fine condition ; of the remainder, two-
thirds are cut, and one-third is standing. The
weather, on Saturday and yesterday was exceed-
ingly fine.
The arguments in the great Shrewsbury Peerage

case have been concluded. On Friday, the Lord
Chancellor said the case was a very important one,
and their lordships weuld require time to consi ler
it. He moved that the decision should be post-
poned till next session. Lord St. Leonards con-
curred, and the committee adjourned.
Of local news there is very little of importance
to-day. We report at full length the trials at the
assizes on Saturday.
There is no news of interest from the French
capital. M. Guitera, an Italian gentleman
of respectability, wall known at the BJurse, was,
on Friday, sentenced by the tribunalof correctional
police to a year's imprisonment and a fine of
1,000 f., for false news, and disrespectful expres-
sions towards the Emperor, alleged to have been
overheard by a police agent, but which the prisoner
denied having uttered.
From all that is reported at Paris, it seems that
a meeting of the Conference on the Moldavian
elections is unnecessary. This was, from Lord
Palmerston's declarations, the conviction at
Osborne.

News by way of Constantinople has been re:
ceived, concerning the battle between Schamyl
and the Russians, mentioned a week ago in cur
St. Petersburg intelligence. Of course, here
Schamyl has beaten the Russians, while there, it
was the Russians beat Schamyl,
We learn that the organisation and arming of the
Russian " Chasseur " battalions and companies
proceed but slowly, and it is by no means difficult
to believe that such is the case. Thirty-six
separate batalions, and as many companies as
there are batalions of the line, are to be formed,
and armed with the best rifles that can be procured
for money. The fhtilla in the Caspian, which is
under the command of Rear-Admiral Wulf, is com-
posed of twenty transport barques and eight
steamer?. Several new vessels are being built at
Astrachan, and there is a regular naval establish-
ment on the island of Ashoorada, which is at no
great distance from Asterabad.
Intelligence from Athens to the Bth states that
bands of Turkish disbanded soldiers infest Epirus,
and the situation is represented as most unsafe both
for life and property.

By the arrival of the -As'a yesterday morning,
we are in receipt of one week's later news from the
United States. It, however, is not of any political
importance. The arrest of Mrs. Cunningham and
others in New York (as noticed in our summary in
another column), charged with felonious conspiracy
to defraud the Doctor's heirs, by the production of
a suppostitious child, purporting to be the otTspring
of her alleged marriage with the Doctor,
and consequently entitled to two-thirds of his
estate, caused, when announced, an immediate
deepening of the conviction which a large part of
the community have entertained, even since the
verdict of acquittal, that she was privy to the
murder of the man she claimed as her husband.
The details which are before the public of this
attempt to secure the Doctor's estate, cannot add
much to the general evil opinion entertained of her
character, while they will undoubtedly strengthen
the belief that she had a part in procuring the
Doctor's death. The New York Markets were very
firm ; Cotton, indeed, had slightly advanced.
Breadstuff steady, and freights unchanged.

WHEN a house is on fire the inmates do not
usually waste time in searching out the cause of

the disaster, but they vigorously apply them-
selves to extinguish the conflagration. The
investigation into causes will follow in due time,
but the first work is to put out the fire, or to
limit the area of its devastation. So with our
present Indian difficulty. The investigation
into causes will very properly follow the quelling
of the insurrection. We will listen to Air.
DISRAELI and others after the mutiny is subdued.
This is the pressing work of the hour. No doubt
many causes have concurred to bring about this
result. The Hon. Gentleman specified three ; a
little ingenuity might raise them to thirty, and
then the catalogue would be incomplete. Very
probably we have committed many mistakes ;
and the misgovernment of India must be largely
blamed for bringing on the present crisis. The
extent of our territory ; the jostling against
native prejudices, civil and religious; the land
tax; the salt tax; the disproportion of European
to native soldiers ; the insufficient supply of
British officers ; the frequent inability of those
officers to converse with their men in the native
dialect ; the unwisdom of selecting our most
numerous Indian army from one arrogant and
pampered caste, the Brahmins; the conferring
of British discipline upon those men, putting
arms into their hands, and then trusting them to
guard fortresses containing large guns and other
military stores ; the double government of India,
a clumsy and awkward expedient, by which the
Honourable Company and the Home Government
could ,act as mutual checks and hindrances to
one another; these, and probably many other
causes, have contributed to produce the present
and alarming state of things.

But this is not the question that ought to
interest the nation at this moment. The time
will come for inquiring into the " why and the
wherefore," and the demand for the reform of all
proved Indian grievances and misgovernment ;
but that time is not yet. At present we have
to subdue insurrection, to restore the supremac y
of Eagland, and show the world and the
mutineers that none can effectually dispute our
authority or successfully contend with us on the
plains of India. Whoever seeks to embarrass
the Government, or divert their attention from
this one supreme object, or to make the nation
think lightly of the present Indian emergency,
is either an ignoramus or a knave ; either he has
been asleep for the last few months, or he is an
enemy to his country.
When, therefore, Lord JOHN RUSSELL lately
turned the implied censure of DISRAELI into a
declaration of assurance that the House and the
country would earnestly support Ministers in a
vigorous course of action in India, he rightly
interpreted the feeling of the country, and gave
it timely expression. Mr. DISRAELI'S oration
was brilliant, and able, and elaborate; and if to
power of elocution there were added somewhat
more of steadiness of principle, we should all be
proud of the leader of her Majesty's Opposition.
Unfortunately, the right honourable gentleman
blends far too much of personal feeling and
party politics with his brilliant displays, and so
mars his own dignity and public usefulness. We
entirely accord, and the nation generally agrees
with Mr. BRIGHT, just returned for Birmingham,

Ithat, in mercy to India, as well as out of regard
to our own interests and dignity, we are bound
Ito put down the military rebellion. But we