Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-10-14 00:00:00

and to such an extent was this carried, that in 1857
tho expenses of Lord Dunkellin, who was at the
head of the poll, amounted to at least £1,200 ;
those of Mr. O'Flaherty, who was unseated upon petitions,
being about £4OO. The last, however, was universally
admitted to have been the purest by comparison, as in
1852 there was expended on the part of Mr. Martin Joseph
Blake, without his knowledge, though he afterwards
made himself responsible for the amount, upwards of
.£1,300; whilst on the part of Lord Dunkellin, notwith-
standing the defeat on that occasion, an outlay of £2.000
was deposed to. The contested election of 1847 was on
all hands described as that at which the most extensive
and systematic corruption prevailed; but the corn.
missioners were precluded from entering upon the con-
sideration of its details by the fact that a general election
had since taken place at which there was no contest, and
in referenc,3 to which no illegal expenditure or agreemen t
could be established. The necessity for examining so
large a number of witnesses arises from the fact of its
being requisite to afford every party charged upon any
of the lists with having taken a bribe, an opportunity of
denying..or of explaining, .the circumstances before his
name is reported to the House of Commons.

INDIAN MUTINY RELIEF FUND.—We understand that
this fund has received a very welcome augmentation by
the transference to its account of £3,682, the balance of
the Times Crimean Fund. The application of this
amount to an object so closely analogous to that for
which it was originally raised, will be viewe•l with
general satisfaction. At the sama time it seems obvious
to inquire whether there are not in existence balances of
other funds which are lying unappropriated, and which
might, with equal propriety, be applied to the same
purpose. This is a matter of great importance ; for
although the appeal that, has been made to the humanity
of the British people has been met with a hearty
response, which has been seconded by the generous
co-operation of other countries, yet it is evident, from the
applications already before the committee, that any
amount which may be placed at their disposal will be
required to meet all the demands which the calamities
of India must entail on the charity of this country.

BRITISH PROGRESS IN INDIA.-The progress of the
British in India is one of the most marvellous circum-
stances in the history of nations. The first British com-
mer•cial intercourse with India was in 1591, when a ship
from England reached India after a three years' voyage !
The voyage is now made in less than double that number
of weeks. When the Old Fort of Calcutta was besieged,
our whole army consisted of but a few hundred British
troops and a very few thousand Sepoys. The Company's
possessions in India in 1756 were the Island of Bombay,
and the factories at Surat and Calicut on the West
Coast of Hindoostan; on the Elst, Masulipatam, Madras,
Arcot, and Devi-Cattah. In Bengal, the towns or
villages of C luttanutty (since become Calcutta) and
Govindpore : lastly, a factory at Bantam in Java. The
total possessions at the time the Old Fort was besieged
occupied scarcely a hundred square miles of land. There
was nothing that coal 1j be called territory. in the
present year (1856) the company's territories aro of vast
extent. They are virtually bounded by Cahn!, Buloo-
chistan, and the Arabian Sea on the west, the Bay of
Bengal on the south, the Irrawaddy and the Gulph of
Siam on the east, and the Himalaya Mountains ou the
north. The provinces eastward of Calcutta embrace an
area of about 190,000 square miles ; those in the Peninsula
of Hindoostan and Island of Ceylon: occupy an area of
about 600,000 square miles ; and from Calcutta to the
confines of the Indus and the Himalaya, the provinces
spread over an area of about 690,000 square miles. The
total amount of territory over which the company has
now kingly authority and sway is scarcely less than a
million of square miles ! The present annual revenue of
India (exclusive of Oude) is about .00,000,000 sterling.—
History of the Fall of the Old Fort of Calcutta.

THE RISE IN THE RATE OF DISCOUNT.—The City article
in yesterday's Times contains the following remarks in
reference to the movement of the Bank Directors on
Monday :—" This measure was•fully anticipated, and,
from the extent of the applications to-day, it is doubtful
if a further movement will riot immediately be found
necessary. The amount of bullion withdrawn has been
only £9,000, but it is asserted that £400,000 will be
despatched to New 'York and Boston by the Baltic and
Canada on Wednesday and Saturday next, and, as the
Indian exchanges show an adverse alteration of 1 per
cent. at Bombay and 2 per cent. at Calcutta, it is also
anticipated that the shipments in that direction by the
Overland Mail of the 20th will be larger than was at one
time thought probable. With these prospects a fresh
advance can scarcely be avoided, :and perhaps we
may again see the rate at 8 per cent., the
highest point it has ever reached during modern
experience, and at which it stood in October, 1847.
Iu proportion, however, to the suddenness of the
pressure will be the rapidity of the ultimate reaction, and,
as on that occasion the rate within a year afterwards
went back to 3 per cent.—there will in the present case
be reason to look for an extraordinary turn of the tide as
soon as the immediate difficulty shall have been com-
pletely met. Notwithstanding the tempting rates of
exchange at New York and Calcutta, the transmission Of
specie thither under existing circumstances must be a
hazardous speculation, since the question in each instance
is not what may be the apparent profit, judging from the
present advises, but what will have been the course of the
markets in the interval before the operation can be
carried out. In America the arrears now due to England
and the continent are enormous, and are accumulating
every week, and the moment the panic subsides and the
influence of the fortnightly gold arrivals from California
again begins to be felt the scarcity of bills upon us
may be as remarkable as their present abundance. In
India, likewise, the falling off in the shipmen's of produce
and the demand upon the Government for payments to
English steam companies for the transport of troops must
exercise a strong effect in restoring more favourable con-
ditions. There is consequently nothing to excite appre-
hension that the disturbance will be protracted. Tne
sole cause for anxiety is lest the fall of such houses in the
provinces and elsewhere as are unavoidably compromised
by the American failures, and the fluctua•ions in the
markets for Eastern produce, should beget any vague
terror calculated to lead even to a single day of general
distrust. The belief is, however, that the decided action
of the bank has removed• all danger on that account. So
well is the effect of a rapid acrvance in the rate of dis-
count new understood, that when the necessity for it
exists, a vaterous course of action is at once appreeiated.
It is unquestionable that this was the effect observable
to-day. When the advance to seven per cent was
atmouuced, every one saw that the work of protection
was in progress, and the conviction that in., case of
need there would be uo hesitation in making another
movement, established a sense of • perfect security.
The funds went down, and there was much uneasiness
respecting the probable fate of the tnanufacturiuge firms
that have sustained losses, but there was no fright lest a
period might be approaching at which it would be
impossible even for perfectly solvent houses to obtain
money on any terms. The absence of excitement today
among the banking and commercial community afforded
a striking contrast to the scenes that used to be witnessed
when the true principles which regulate the currency
were unrecognised. If any regret was expressed it was
simply that the rise to 7 per cent, had not been resolved
upon a day or two earlier. Altogether the feeling
exhibited was such as to excite pride in our healthful
system of finance, and to confirm the impression that,
although this shock from America has come upon us in
the midst of the Indian mutiny, we shall be able to with-
stand it, so that its consequences, heavy as they must
necessarily be, shall not destroy confidence or interrupt
the general welfare of the country."

Do you think yu are fit to die ?" asked a mother of
her neglected child. " I don't know," said the little girl,
taking hold of hor dirty dress with her dirty fingers, and
inspecting it: "I guess sn, it I ain't too—dirty."
AFRICAN WHRAT.—.• k telegraphic despatch f,otn Mar-
seilles, dated Wednesday, states that wheat from Africa had
arrived in lacii abundance as to cause a fill of 1 Jr. the
hectolitre.