The American. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1857, 1857-09-16

~ V'Nr icturu yuu stiitlI Sce lie III IHe w Hpet,
tew days afterwards there was seen passing
Governors Islanlthc splendid new stean er g Pre-.
Isdcnt on her outward trip to Liverpool, with
Mr. Cookman, Tyrone Power, and long list OF
other distinguished passengers onv boar The
flying steamer had left the lighthouse far behind,
and moved galantly on up the open Atlantic With
prospects OF as speedy and safe a voyage ms any
vessel that ever crossed the ocean. Night was
coming on. The clouds in the heavens portended
storm Tte winds blew and portended q dread
ful hurricane. The ilI-fnted vessel was seen late
in the evening, struggling with fate--now lying in
the trough OF the sea- now on the top of the noun
thin wave, now upon her side, and again plunging,
as y were, into the abyss below.
The storm was loud the night was dark,
t3. The ocean yawned, and rudely blowed
The wind that tossed my toundering bark"
Morning came. The sun rose on an open seq.
The President, with all Oh board, had gone
down, and was never heard Of more. Thus per-
ished ere he reached the meridian Of life, one Of
the eminent divines of our country. vi
Affairs in India.
The news from India which arrives by the Eu-
ropa goes far to confirm our worst apprehensions
Ihe English have sustained rapid succession of
defeats and disasters, and at this moment the.
Bengal Presidency are rather in the condition to
sue for than to dictate terms to the despised Se-
poys. E@
As already advised Sir Hugh Wheeler, who was
IN command or Cawnpore, had been compelled by
famine to surrender to one Of the nsurgent lead
ers Ncna Saheb, who treacherously murdered him
and all his comrades, except about a hundred,
whom he retained as hostages. - n'@ @@'&
! Agra, capital Of the province of that name.
| about ] l6 miles southeast of Delhi, with popn.
| latlon OF some hundred thousand, has also been
taken, and the British forced to retire with severe
| loss Of officers. hN "'"
Two native regiments at Seal Kete, about sew
enty miles from Tanjore, have lighted the torch
OF insurrection in the Punjaub, thus diminishing
the hope that the Government professed to enter
tain OF reinforcements reaching Delhi by way OF
the Indus. af
Ii, as there is now every reason to presume, the
garrison at Lucknow has also succumbed its stu
alton being at last accounts quite desperate, and
no relnforcements having had an opportunity of
relieving it, SO far as we can gather, the British
do not hold an inch of territory between Delhi and
Allahabad, city some four hundred miles distant.
from whence any reinforcements will have TO 6ght
their way through hostile and partially-srmed
popuation to the relief of the besegers Of Delhi.
Our intelligence from that capital was to the
l4th Oh duiy. 1t was still in the possession of
the mutineers, and likely to remain therc, the ef-
fective force of the besieged having been reduced
TO two thousand men by disease and by drafts for
the relief OF other places not named but probably
Agra was the principal one.
We tremble at the news which the next steamer
may bring. What but a special interposition of
Providence can save the small band who are gath.
cred before Delhi from impending destruction :
Disease and war are thinning their already feeble
numbers rapidly; they will soon be obliged to sur.
| render or retire But where can they retire 10
| They have not a place of refuge within four hun
dred miles, and at this season of the year We can
| not conceive it possible for two thousand troops
wearied and worn with the fatgues Of a seventy
days siege, without anlmunition--for by the pre.
vlous arrival we were advised that the besieged
were obliged on one occasion to retire temporarily
before their assailants for the want of ammunition
and, with limited supply of provisions il is TO be
presumed, to retreat four hundred miles through
country infested by hostile population mum.
bering many millions, and animated apparently by
the deadliest hatred of the English race How
this little army is TO be relieved it is difficult to
conjecture, and unless relieved it is yet more diff
cult TO conceive how II can escape utter destruc-
tion The Queen may well say that the situation
OF her subjects in India has given her /" extreme
concern" ,... :. ....,. '.
The Bombay correspondent of the London
News, writing under date Of July Ii, says: .
The season here has been so different from
those Of former years that fears are entertained
lest drought and consequent famine NAV follow.
The monsoon, instefd of yielding forty or fifty
inches OF rain, as it usually does, up TO this date
has given but twenty; aud, as most parts of India
depend for existence on the monsoon It's failure
would entail an endless amount Of misery. The
prevalent fair weather-sltogcther exceptional at
this time-has very much favored the movement
Of our troops"
The following is an extract from private
letter which appears in the London Times, and is
dated BeBares, June IL:
Here we are hanging every day, aud the
gbbet is in full work. We must decimate the
half of the population before we get our prestige
back.
Next year will be a year Of famine, J antici.
pate. Plague and pestence follow. Every one
from the ryot to the zemindar, is plundering and
numbering, and II this state of things lasts, where
will be the harvest?
be hard to hold. The roads are all closed. and
there is no income Of grain. Taking cur own
DIVISION only, Jaunpore, Azimghur, and Gonuh.
pore, are empty and burnt TO the ground but
one official place left; Allahabad is n heap of
ruins, and not one village hut is out on a maraud
ing expedition"
The following extract is from a letter written
by the wife Of an Indian officer, and is published
in the Inverness Courier II bears date Si,nla,
June %:
MANY here talk Of the probability, even the
proprety, Of giving up all Dude and many Of our
other possessions as the only means Of being able
to retain any portion Of the country. They also
say that il they could only get rid of the women
they would abandon many stations in the mean
time and concentrate more. Simla is probably the
safest place for us poor unfortunates at present.
hope our friends have been able 70 send YOU let.
| tiers but the state OF the whole country is such
that the dawk may be open for one day and then
| closed for month. Every thing il disorranized
and we live IN fear and trembling. feel that
have cause for thankiIlness above a Thousand in
being in such climate, with such friends, whose
kindness nothing could exceed and who society
| is improving in every way. grudee every hour
OF this delicious climate 10 myself when / thn,
OF what is endured at Delhi. The heat of the
plains is almost insuicrable Mt this season. even in
cool house, and what must il be in the tents
Never, suppose, was Il known that Europeans
coald bear exposure to this climate at such time
| OF year; but the rains must soon begin, and fee
they will be worse for the troops than the presen
heat We trust every day however, to hear tha
Delhi is ours again, and then all begin to cheer up
ir Patrick Grant is expected immediately before
Delhi to take the command Of the army. and grca
things are expected Of him. The state OF the cit,
is said to be horrible beyond description. thousand
OF dead and wounded living tocetbor Il, bsans il