The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-18 00:00:00

THE BETROTHAL_OF THE PRINCESS

ROYAL.

BERLIN, SUNDAY,

The betrothal of Prince Frederick William of
Prussia with the Princess Royal of England is pub-
lished in the Staats- Anzeiger (official gazette) of
to-day as a piece of most gratifying intelligence.

THE OVERLAND MAIL.
INDIA AND PERSIA.
We have receired our despatches in anticipation
of the Overland Mail. The dates are :—Bombay,
April 16 ; Calcutta, April 9 ; Madras, April 15 ;
Galle, April 19 ; Hong-Kong, March 29.
The summary of the Bombay Times contains
copious details of the proceedings in the Persian
Gulf, hue the intelligence is not of later date than
that' communicated in the despatches given in
The Sun of Saturday last.
The deaths of General Stalker and Commodore
Ethersidge are plainly attributable, says the Bom-
bay Times, to identical causes, remote and imme-
diate. "Both men should have been in Eu-
rope on sick leave, instead of directing
operations in the Gulf. Iu each instance the ner-
vous system was evidently shattered by the climate,
and quite unequal to encounter, except under the
influence of casual strong excitement, the extraor-
dinary responsibility thrust upon it. For some
days prior to the 14th ultimo, on which the un-
happy general destroyed himself, it was observed
that he was unusually depressed, and it is generally
believed that recent heavy pecuniary losses had
come to supplement the harassing responsibilities
of his positiou,eancl destroy the energies already
undermined by disease, and fainting under an ex-
aggerated estimate of what was required from him.
It was determined that he should command at Bu-
shire, in the absence of General Outram, who
would conduct the operations against Mohamra,
and lie seems to have imagined that the force to be
left at his disposal was inadequate to the ser-
vice. There is not the shadow of a suspicion that
any unpleasantness o ccurrei bet wean him and Gene-
ral Outram, a friendship the mist chivalric and ar-
dent subsisting between them. They breakfasted
together in the company of the staff, on the morn-
ing of his death, and no one observed any alteration
in his manner. He rose from the table, and
having called upon several of his staff all of whom
unhappily wore out, proceeded to hiS own tent,
where a pistol shot was heard ten minutes
afterwards, and the unhappy general was found
iu the agony of death. Several of the witnesses
testify to his nervous and undue apprehension
for the troops during the approaching hot weather.
Certain it is, the men and officers loved the gallant
old man, who thus cared for them with no ordinary
love, and his memory saddens every heart. It is but
right to add that one of the witnesses, Col. Lugar'd,
asserts his strong belief that the explosion of the
pistol was accidental. The verdict, however, deter-
mined that the general destroyed himself in a fit of
temporary insanity.
" The gloom that was cast over the camp by this
melancholy event, was to be deepened ere long by
another equally, if not more painful. On the morn-
ing of the 16th ultimo, two days after the death of
Stalker, a rumour spread through the camp that
the Commodore of the Navy, Capt. Ethersidge,
destroyed himself iu the night, and but too well
founded was it. It had been matter of remark
for some time that the Commodore, a most able
and talented man, was suffering from mental ex-
citement of no ordinary kind, and it is much to be
regretted that a too nice sense of honour should
have kept him with the force when his state evi-
dently demanded that he should in valid for a time.
On the night of his death he had been poring over
despatches recently received from Sir H. Leeke,
and a memorial to the Government of Bombay lay
beside them on his dressing table. It would seem
that, tired and confused, sick and in despair, he at
last placed the pistol at his head and destroyed him-
self. These despatches and that memorial were
sprinkled with his blood, but if we are to believe the
government account of the inquest, which we pub-
lish elsewhere, none of these documents were looked
into, to find the cause of that madness which they
agreed had led to the act."
At the inquest on the body of Commodore
Ethersidge the following memoranda, found iu his
diary, were put in :
Dated January 22d, 1857, Thursday.
" My poor head is sadly confused ; I have frequent
dreadful nervous attacks at times."
Dated 11th Msrch, 1857, Wednesday.
" Had a bad night last night."
Dated 12th March, 1857, Thursday.
" I feel more and more my unfitness to command. I
am broken down—my head gone, and the terrible re-
sponsibility, I shall make mess of it."—(sic in orig.)
Dated 14th March, 1857, Saturday.
" Heard of poor Stalker's melancholy death. His
case is similar to my own. He was unequal to the
responsibility imposed on him—(a blank line intervenes
then). I have had a wretched night."
Dated 16th March, 1857, Monday.
" A bad night—took opium—but the dose was too
large—it made me ill for some hours. Hugh Lindsay
and Napier started for river; it promised to be calm,
but three hours after she left, it set in furious from the
southward and south-eastward. I feel for the little
vessel, and that it will be the first mishap of this
wearisome expedition."
*These extracts end his diary. His death took place
on the following day. An unfinished paper sufficiently
exhibits his failing condition. This VIM found in his
diary :—" I feel that I am unequal to the responsibility
of conducting the present large fleet. My ht ad i 3 gone.
I have no longer any confidence in my own judgment—
have lost all energy, and act entirely upon the sugges-
tions of those around me. lam dreadfully nervous, and
the slightest occurrence agitates me, more especially
(sic in orig.) to a degree that renders me incapable of
acting, or prompt action. Anything that goes wrong,
for which I am responsible, quite unnerves me for a
time."

The verdict was, " The Court, after delibera-
tion, is of opinion that the late Commodore Ether-
sidge destroyed himself with his own band, whilst
suffering under mental aberration, brought about
longcontinued anxieties connected with the duties
of his command ;" and in General Stalker's case :
—" The Cuurt having maturely weighed and con-
sidered the whole of the evidence before them and
viewed the body, come to the opinion that thelate
Major-General Stalker came by his death from a
pistol shot inflicted by his own hand in a fit of tem-
porary insanity."
The Bengal papers are filled with the particulars
of the mutiny of the 19th Regt. Native Infantry,
which bas ended in the disbandment of that corps,
and the spread of disaffection to the 34th Regiment
Native Infantry.
The Governors of the presidencies are at the seats
of their adininistraqou.
A further improvement has taken place in the
Bombay money market, and we have to report a
further rise in 4 per cent. paper; the business
transacted in the import market during the fort-
night has been to a fair extent ; freights have fallen
in value and exhibit a downward tendency.