The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-17 00:00:00

estates, estates as large as counties, and a great '
part of them gained by fraud and violence. • They
had oppressed the poor villagers withoUt mercy,
and cheated the Government as far as they could
or dare. After the annexation they had done their
best to resist the efforts of the British Commissioner
to bring them into financial order, and to ameliorate
the condition of the villagers ; but the then Go-
vernment thwarted too much the Commissioner's
efforts, and the talookdars contrived to gain the
military power which they used with such fataleffect
in the mutiny. Some thought that these men—tbe
most powerful of them being the most unprincipled
villains—should have been bribed, not fought with.
Lord CANNING thought that to bribe them to obe-
dience would be a premium on mutiny ; and though
much might be said on the other side, we
• must think that Lord CANNING showed the true

spirit of an English lord, in determining to conquer
first, and to show leniency afterwards. It was in-
deed a costly policy ; but the other might ,have

been ultimately more costly, and might even have
failed at the time. We might have lost our object

and our dignity too.
Now that the results are before us, and we see the
terms on which the estates are placed in'the hands
of the talookdars, it is not easy to deny that these
terms area vast improvement on the old ones. The
proceeding is a kind of Encumbered Estates Act,
only that it relieves the Government far more than
the estate-holders from a vague tenure capable of
' much abuse. The document by which each holds
his property, bases his possession on the confisca-
tion, and on the sovereign rights thus ac-
cruing to the granter. of a new title.
It gives' the Talookdars full and fair, indeed,
generous possession, we might say, of their old
territories and privileges ; they are still made the
collectors of the revenue, and will have to pay it to
the Government for such villages as are left within
their hands ; but they will have to surrender all
arms, destroy all; forts, prevent and report crime,
render any service they may be called on to per-
form, and to show good faith, loyalty, and zeal to-
wards the British Government." It is also stipu-
lated that they shall, " so far as is in their power;
promote the agricultural prosperity of the estate, and
that all holding under them shall be secured in the
possession of all the subordinate rights they for-
merly enjoyed."
In an. this there is nothing approaching the un-
desirable points of the famous, but much condemned
perpetual settleinent in Bengal—a settlement by
which the Government debars itself from increasing
the taxes paid by the zemindars, however the land
of the country may increase in value. It is ex-
pressly stipulated that they shall receive the estates
for themselves and their heirs for ever, " subject to
the payment of such annual revenue as may from
tinte:to tin2e be imposed." Still, after all, the prin-
ciple of a perpetual settlement is the only one under
which much improvement of the country can take
place. Unless the talookdars and their subordinate
tenantry can feel assured of enjoying the fruits of
Such improvements as they make, it needs little
knowledge of human nature and of facts to predict
that the improvement of agriculture in Oude will
be but slow. In any revision of what, may be
termed their land•tax, they ought to have the
Utmost confidence that they shall be by far the
greatest gainers from the bettered condition of their
estates. A land-tax, which is but a screw of the
rack-rent from either proprietary or ryots, will
ever keep the country in a' beggarly state of til -
lage. On the contrary, if the country be encou-
raged to produce largely, it becomes a large ex-
porting and importing country, an 2. the customs
yrould soon yield far more than could ever be ob-
tained by perpetually squeezing large proprietors
or poor peasant- cultivators. ,
We are told that all stipulations for the tenantry
of the talOokdars are but " philanthropic rubbish."
Bat is it so? Is it no advantage for a Govern-
ment, which may., receive complaints from the vil-
lagers of extortion and maladministration, to be
able to Point, in'the very.title-deeds Of the oppres-
sor's estates, to clauses condemning his own con-
duct, and forming part of the conditions on which
heholds it ? TO us, at present, it certainly appears
that such clauses' are wise. In proportion as the
Government makes its own power felt, and disables
the military strength of these lawless Indian barons,
in proportion' as it introduces efficient and equal
courts of justice, will it be felt that these clauses
will be a valuable protection for the weak against
the strong. We think the Government was right
in including in the new deed of conveyance' a
declaration of the rights of those whom it might
have to defend.

RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—During a dense fog which
prevailed yesterday morning a collision occurred on the
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway, which was
not attended with serious consequences. The 6,25 a.m.
train from Sheffield to Manchester had , arrived close to
the Dunkirk Colliery siding, near Guide-bridge, about , a
quarter past eight, before the driver could perceive a signal
which was protecting the passage of a coal train across the
main line. He was unable to ing his train to a stand be-
fore a collision took place, but its violence was not disas-
trous. Two passengers only were shaken rather severely,
and the trains were not detained.
DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT MILLWALL.—Last night
a fire, attended with great loss of property, and which lasted
until past midnight, took place on the premises belonging
to Messrs. Howell and Co., patent rope manufacturers to
the Government, &c., situate at Millwall, Poplar. The pre-
mises in which the misfortune comMenced were about 130
feet long and nearly 40 feet wide. The various compart-
ments were filled with stock of a costly character, and,
owing to the highly inflammable nature of the goods, the
flames Spree& so-rapidly that in less than.: 10 minutes the
whole premises were onlfire. The parish•enine, as well as
several olthe tendon brigade; under the command of Mr.
Superintendent Braidwood, and Mr. Bridges, the foreman
of the A district, were quickly in attendance, and a good
supply of the East. London Company's water having been
procured, the firemen went to work, but they were unable to
snake the least impression upon the flames until nearly
midnight, and not before a vast quantity of property was
-destroyed, and nearly the whole of the premises, consisting
of winding, wheeling; twisting, and finishing ;hops, toge-
gether with the machinery therein, were destroyed. Th
origin of the fire could not be ascertained.
DEATH OF A BRIGHTON CELEBRITY.—During
the zenith, of the smiles: of royalty on Brighton, few persons
,obtained so ,high a position in the estimation of the nobility
as Madame Michau, the maitresse de dense. Dukes and
duchesses, marquises and marchionesses, earls and cows-
-tesses, and aery gadOion of the peerage, owed the dignity
of their gait to MadamoMichan, Whoie academy, held in the
AiseinblY Rooms of the Old Ship Hotel, was the focus of
the elite. Then was the time when the equipages of the
nobility exhibited the sterling grandeur of their owners,
and Ship-street was one aristocratic carriage stand. Years
have passed, on. Her early patron, George IV., passed
away. , William IV. and his royal consort then delighted
in the evolutions of the tiny feet at the Royal Pavilion,
under the watchful guidance of Madame Michau, when
juvenile balls were weekly there in full vigour. They also
passed away. The Pavilion of royalty itself passed away
still Madame enjoyed the smiles of the noble, of the land.
Age, however, which she sternly warded qff, at length set
in, and on Wednesday last—after a short cessation from
her duties—she expired, at the good old age of 76 years.—
Brighton Observer.
CAUTION TO HOTELKEEPERS.—A square built
man of gentlemanly appearance, a Dutchman by ' birth,
and giving different names'at different places; has contrived
to live for some months past upon two hotelkeepers, one at
Leicester and the other at Derby. The doctor—for such he
represents himself to be—has been busily engaged writing
a work upon chemistry, at least that'has been his professed
engagement. After luxuriating on good things at Leices-
ter, he suddenly levanted, being indebted to the landlord to
the tune of £52. His next appearance was in an hotel at
Derby, where, for a time, his manners captivated- several
gentlemen who he occasionally met in the coffee-room,though
his custom was to spend the greater portion of his ti me in his
bedroom, engaged—or professedly engaged—with writing
materials. After being at the hotel some time lie paid £lO on
account; itwas subsequently discovered that lie had succeeded
in borrowing that amount. As time wore on suspicions
were excited, and on being pressed for the amount he owed
he prevaricated. At length the wily fox was unearthed,
under the following cirEiunstanees : —A gpntlemfl.ll happened
on Thursday evening, last to arrive at the hotel in Derby,
and on proceeding to the coffee-room saw the Dutchman
enjoying his dinner. He at once gave notice to the land-
lady that the doctor, who went by another name at Leices-
ter, had contrived to swindle Mc. Bowyer, of Leicester. Mr.
Bowyer was written to and made his appearance next morn-
ing, to the great consternation and surprise of the doctor.
who kept his bed until towards dusk, when ho contrived to
give the
rat
ehka ehni
ndepg,eslr son oo
y make
'is
succeeded
ashekedeaeedpme wasi.antlttieverasti
is
borrowingewli io ursge
indebted
the slip,
tlutoorturns out
and
oeomu tbe
athg landlady
aes
that
d gentleman,
lhcneeee:eudaraenl
nearly
wouldwhich
iis nacoennavebil,sealtiiointel iurt rail t
and some
heis
distant
His powers were by
were good,
evi-
dently a man of intelligence. Mynheer Van Dunk' though
ho never got drunk, sipped brandy and water daily, and
appeared a# happy as a prince.--,Derby 12.eporter.