The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-22 00:00:00

INDIA.

By the arrival of the Bombay mail we have
received advices from Bombay to Feb. 29, and from
Calcutta to Feb. 20.
Sir John Lawrence has beemsuffering from indis-
position. His Excellency has placed himself under
the treatment of Dr. Tonnerre, a homoeopathist.
His Excellency gave his first public ball on the
15th of February, to which no natives of India were
invited. This exclusion had given great offence to
the native community. The Bombay Gazette thus
refers to this occurrence :

One of the earliest acts of Sir John Lawrence as Viceroy
and Governor-General has been to put a stop to the one-
sided social intercourse which has hitherto existed in India
between Europeans and natives, by omitting to invite any
native gentlemen to the first ball given him in Calcutta. It
appears that the leaders of the native community at Cal-
cutta lately offered a direct insult to the Lieutenant-Gover-
nor of Bengal by sending prostitutes to the Agricultural
Exhibition on a day set apart for the reception of native
ladies there by the most distinguished Englishwomen of the
presidency. This alone was enough to provoke the indig-
nation of even the most tolerant of Englishmen; but, with-
out this, one who knows so much of India and Indian ways
of thinking as Sir John Lawrence is of course cognisant of
the opinions which the people of this as of all other Orien-
tal countries have on the subject of dancing, and must
therefore have been glad of the opportunity of letting all
India understand that henceforth natives who, in spite of
their loud professions of faith in the excellence of western
ideas about society, are ashamed to bring their own wives
and daughters to public assemblies, will be kept at a distance
instead of being courted by the English community.
His Excellency Sir Hugh Rose is stated to have
tendered his resignation, and it is added that his
resignation has been accepted, Other statements,
consequent on this, are made; that Sir Robert
Napier, K.C.8., is to succeed to the Command-in-
Chief of the Indian army;
and that his seat in the
Imperial Council will be filled by Colonel Elliot.
Sir Hugh Rose has issued an order providing that
in future the hospitals of European soldiers shall be
attended by European nurses instead of native ayahs.
The nurses are to be chosen from among the sol-
diers' wives of good character in each regiment, who
while finding useful occupations for themselves, will
be able to do much towards alleviating the unhappy
lot of the invalid European soldiers.

The Akhood of Swat has directed all his people
to arm, as he fears an attack from us in the spring.
The Bengal Chamber of Commerce has passed a
resolution in favour of a subsidiary gold currency
for India. The following are the terms in which it
worded :

That this meeting is of opinion that the introduction of
gold, as an auxiliary currency, into India would prove very
beneficial, and that the committee be instructed to address
the government of India on the subject, and pray for the
appointment of a committee to inquire into the best mode of
introducing such an auxiliary currency.

onvgernto this meeting,
ment merely to
saysTh:e_E:ig,olisph:onpaone,e into rgeefte rGr i
introduce gold as an auxiliary currency to silver is
weak enough, but it is a very doubtful question
whether the introduction of gold as a legal tender
will be of any material advantage. This question
was not discussed. The still more important question
of a paper currency was not even alluded to?
Gen. Sir Neville Chamberlain has been compelled,
by the state of his health, to leave India for a time.
The cotton crop of Western India will, it is
feared, be short this year. Much more than the
ordinary extent of ground has been taken into cul-
tivation, but the yield per acre will, it is thought,
be small, the crops in Guzerat especially having
been blighted by the severe frost of an unusually
cold winter, or spoiled by unseasonable rains.
The northeastern branch of the Great Indian
Peninsula Railway is blocked up, its single line and
small rolling stock being unequal to the conveyance
of the largely increased cotton traffic. The Bhore
Ghaut Railway was to be opened for regular pas-
senger traffic on the 3d of March.

Mr. Maine has introduced in the Viceroy's Legis-
lative Council a bill providing that no Indian
labourer shall emigrate without the approval of the
magistrate of his district.

An important decision has been given in the Small
Cause Court of Bombay, recognising the exemption
of native princes from liability to the jurisdiction of
British courts, even when they are residing in Bri-
tish territory.
A turf club of Western India has been formed in
Bfirilbay.
We read in the Times of India :

The resources of India are gradually being developed. A
vein of coal or lignite (we have not heard whether it burns
with bitunzinows or euipyreuraatic odour), said to be inex-

haustible, has been opened in tha Punjaub. However, it
has been tried by the Punjaub Railway Company for its
locomotives, the chief engineerpronouncing most favourably
on it. The discovery has caused considerable interest in
the Punjaub ; for if it prove to be, as it is described, of a
quality equal if not superior to that found in Bengal, it will
secure the profitable working of an extension of the railway
in the Punjaub. The discovery of this vein has been made
at Pind Dadun Khan, about 150 miles northward from
Lahore, on the banks of the Jhelum, a little to the west of
the ordinary road to Peshawur, and contiguous to Mr, An-
drews' prrjected line between Lahore and Peshawur.

COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.
(From the Bombay Gazette of Feb. 27.)
Notwithstanding the large arrivals of specie the money
market here is again becoming tight, and exchange has in
consequence advanced, closing at 2a. lid. for Bank, and
2s. 12d. for first-class credit bills. No change has taken
place in the Bank rate since our last report. The share
market has been dull, and prices of most descriptions of
stock have declined within the past week. The import and
export markets have been very dull, and prices are lower.
Operators are anxiously awaiting the further development in
continental politics, dreading the effect of an European war.
The up-country demand for goods has not set in as was ex-
pected, although stocks are know n to be very light in the
interior. The dearness and scarcity of food is telling very
severely on the demand and must be taken into considera-
tion as being likely seriously to influence the course of the
market. A large breadth of the land that was formerly
sown in bread stuffs is now devoted to the cultivation of
cotton, and the districts which before the high prices of
cotton were not only self-feeding but enabled to export a
considerable surplus, are now importing in great quantity,
and as a consequence the price of all kinds of grain has ad-
vanced enormously. With the liberal supply of goods on
hand we cannot look for much improvement until the up-
country demand does set in. The markets of Calcutta and
Madras are reported as dull as our own, but it is probable
that some improvement will speedily take place in Calcutta,
when the demand for the North West commences,

AMERICA.

(REUTER'S EXPRESS.)
(Per the Asia.)
NEW YORK, March 9.

There is no news of importance from the Army
of the Potomac. A reconnaissance on the sth to
Ely's Ford discovered very few rebels north of the
Ripidan. Rumours of General Meade's removal
from command are again cut rent at Washington.
General Kilpatrick's cavalry expedition reached
Williamsburg, after having sustained a loss, vari-
ously estimated at from 150 to 500 men. General
Kilpatrick destroyed a large portion of the Vir-
ginia Central, and Richmond and Fredericksburg
Railroads, and several flour mills on the James
river. Skirmishing occurred at various points on
the roads, and on the Ist of March Kilpatrick passed
the outer line of the Richmond defences, and reached
a point only three miles from the city. The rebels
were found to be fully prepared for defence, and
some heavy artillery fighting ensued. Colonel
Dahlgren, with 500 men, after destroying the rail-
road at Goochland, was led into an ambush by a
negro guide, who was hung for his treachery on the
spot. Col. Dahlgren, who was a son of Commodore
Dahlgren, was killed, and his command suffered
severely, but finally cut its way back to the main
body. It was generally expected that this expedi-
tion would succeed in releasing the Union prisoners
in Richmond, and in making important captures.
Its failure is attributed to the early discovery of the
movement by the rebels, who ,were consequently
enabled to organise too formidable a resistance.

The Richmond Sentinel, of March 5, says that
papers found on the body of Col. Dahlgren, and
other evidences, prove that the intention of the
Federals was to give Richmond over to the soldiers
to sack, after which it was to be burned, and that
for this purpose a force was detailed and provided
with oakum and turpentine. A column of troops to
co-operate with Kilpatrick was expected to be sent
up:the peninsula by General:Batler ; but that force
had not appeared.

Advices from Knoxville to tho sth state that
Longatreet was at Greenfield, and that a portion of
his force held Ball's Gap, 54 miles from Knoxville.
Very few of his troops are thought to have gone to
Georgia. The Federal advance was at Morristown,
42 miles from Knoxville. General Schofield is in
aornmand. Longstreet's movements are still con-
sidered mysterious, and it is not known why he re-
treated from his strong position at Strawberry
Plains.

A dispatch from Chattanooga states that the re-
bels are passing the Federal lines, The Federal
advance has been withdrawn from Tunnel Hill to
Ringgold. A tremendous rise in the Tennessee
River had swept away the pontoon bridge at Chat-
tanooga.

Nothing official from General Sherman is known
to have been received yet, but several reports re-
present that his army had retreated to Vicksburg,
bringing in a great number of negroes and live
stock captured on the march. Deserters state that
as soon as Snerman's advance upon Minden was
known, a large force was sent from Atlanta to
Montgomery, and 10,000 negroes were set to work
upon the defences of Montgomery. General
Withers, recently assigned by General Polk to the
command of Southern Alabama, was superintending
the work upon these fortifications, which wore of
a very formidable character.

Confederate accounts state that General Sher-
man's army was at Canton, Mississippi, on the 28th
ult., in full retreat upon Vicksburg, with the rebel
cavalry harassing its rear and flank with decided
effect.
It was rumoured in New Orleans on the 29th
February that General Sherman had been totally
defeated at Chunkey River, not far from Meridan,
and his army broken up, having sustained a loss of
15,000 men. General Polk had been very heavily
reinforced by Generals Breckinridge and Celiburn,
and had overwhelmed him. On the 27th of Feb-
ruary the rebels had possession of Sherman's line of
communication with Vicksburg, and had a heavy
cavalry force pressing the rear of his army. This
rumour is not credited, although the absence of any
reliable intelligence from Sherman's command for
so long a time gives great reason for apprehension
that he has sustained a reverse.

Federal scouts bring in intelligence that the gar-
rison of Mobile is only 8,000 strong, but that the
city can make a desperate resistance in conse-
quence of its elaborate and formidable defen-
sive works, which comprise powerful fortifications
in the rear, and a network of cables and torpedoes
in the harbour. They have also four iron-olads
ready for action.
Reinforcements have been sent from Hilton Head
to Florida, and it is believed that the Federals can
hold their position at Jacksonville against any force
the rebels can bring against them. The rebels under
General Finnegan were between Ten Miles Run
and Baldwin. They admit their lose at the battle
of Olusta to have been severe.
Richmond papers announce more fighting in
Florida, and state that General Finnegan had driven
the Federals to within three miles of Jacksonville.
The Hilton Head correspondent of the New York
World writes that the Federal loss at the battle of
Olusta will nearly reach fifteen hundred, over 400
killed and wounded falling into the hands of the
rebels; and that the Florida expedition was under-
taken under direct orders from Washington, and
that its object was a political one.
It was rumoured in New Orleans that the com•
biped rebel forces of Generals Magruder, Kirby
Smith, and Dick Taylor, 20,000 strong, were ad-
vancing over the plains of Western Louisiana
against New Orleans. Also, that the Federals had
evacuated Brashear city, and were concentrating to
oppose the rebel advance.
Advices from North Carolina state that the rebel
ironclads in the Neuse, Roanoke, and Tar rivers,
were ready for service, and it was expected that,
conjointly with a heavy land force, they would
simultaneously attack Newbern, Plymouth, and
Washington. General Peek was making vigorous
preparations for their reception. The -Raleigh

PRICE ...... ...4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

Standard is reported to have been suppreEsed by
the Richmond authority.

The Richmond Sentinel contains the following :-
" CHARLESTON, March 4.

"One hundred and twenty-eight shells were fired
at the city yesterday, and one hundred end eight
to-day. One white woman was severely wounded
this morning. This is the only casualty from twelve
hundred and fifty shells fired during the last fort-
night. The monitors fired a few shells at Sumter
to-day."

Admiral Dahlgren is in Washington, and rumour
indicate his removal from the command of the fleet
off Charleston.

A party of thirty rebels captured the steam trans-
port Titan, loaded with commissary stores, and a
tug boat, in the Chesapeake, on the evening of
March 5. The Titan was taken up the Rappa-
hannock. An attempt to recapture her is to be
made.

Gen. Grant has arrived in Washington to confer
with the Government authorities. His plan of
operations will, it is said, have to be entirely
changed, in consequence of the failure to dislodge
the rebels at Dalton, and the failure of Generals
Sherman's and Smith's expeditions.
The rank of Lieut.-General recently conferred
upon Grant gives him command, under:the Presi-
dent, of all the armies of the United States, but
does not interfere with the position of General
Halleek, who remains a General Military Adviser.
In the Senate, Mr. Foot, of Vermont, presented
a petition praying for the passage of a law confis-
cating rebel lands, and distributing them among
the freedmen. Referred to committee on slavery.
In the House, Mr. Cox, of Ohio, offered a re-
solution, which was laid over, calling for copies of
all correspondence in relation to the exchange of
prisoners.

The approaching Presidential contest has not yet
assumed any definite form, but the papers through-
out the country are vigorously advocating their
respective favourites. Lincoln's, Chase's, and Fre-
mont's friends are active, and the indications are
that each of them will get regular nominations.
The German papers in the West are warm in their
support of General Fremont ; and he appears also
to divide with Mr. Chase the favour of the radi-
cal or abolition branch of Republicans. The New
York Herald still supports General Grant for the
Presidency; but it is said that the General is not
ambitious of the office. That the Democratic party
will unite upon Gen. Grant or Gen. M'Clellan
seems quite apparent. The report of the latter,
recently published, is doing good service as a poli-
tical campaign document, and has greatly increased
his popularity.
The gold diggings in Colorado and Idaho terri-
tories are proving to be very rich, and bid fair to
outrival California. In both territories an immense
amount of gold has accumulated in the hands of
miners and others, but the insecurity of communi-
cation with the States prevents its shipment. A
great deal is however sent via Salt Lake City to
California.

It is reported that Gen. Win. Preston, of the
rebel army, formerly U. S. Minister to Spain, has
gone to represent the Confederate Government at
the Court of Maximilian in Mexico, and that he
expects to algotiate a very favourable treaty with
that Government.