AND REGISTER OF INTELLIGENCE FOR BRITISH & FOREIGN INDIA, CHINA, & ALL PARTS OF THE EAST. PUBLISHED ON THE ARRIVAL OF EACH OVERLAND MAIL. Vol. XII.-No. 243.] LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 1854. The Oriental, with a mail, left Calcutta March 19th, Sand Heads 20th, Madras 24th, Point de Galle 28th, Aden April 7th, and arrived at Suez April 14th. The Victoria, with a mail, left Bombay March 28th, and arrived at Suez April 16th. The Norna, with the China mail, left Hong-Kong March 11th, Singapore 18th, Penang 21st, and arrived at Point de Galle March 28th. The mails thus brought were taken on to Alexandria; they arrived at Malta April 22nd, and Marseilles April 25th (per Valetta). The Colombo, with the remaining portion, may be expected at Southampton May 3rd. [PRICE 18. SUMMARY AND REVIEW. THE intelligence from Burmah, as has been usual of late, is either of the tamest or most uncertain character. There is a report that the king of Ava is dead. His brother, who succeeds him, is of warlike propensities; so that, if the rumour be true, the collision, which must come sooner or later, will probably be precipitated. Some mention is made of poison as the agent of the king's death, and if he be dead, its employment is not at all improbable; but all is at present uncertainty. The reports as to the state of the country have, as we surmised, greatly exaggerated the nature and amount of the disturbances. A correspondent of the Englishman, writing from Rangoon, says, "I must enter a protest against the absurd and mischievous exaggerations which emanate from the local press at Rangoon, and which, copied into the Indian prints, and thence transferred to the pages of some of the leading English journals, cause needless alarm, check commercial enterprise, and greatly injure the prospects of this province. We on the spot merely smile with contempt when we read or hear of the stories published in the Rangoon Chronicle, when we find a band of thirty or forty dacoits therein set forth as an army from Ava, headed by a chief from that court, and other equally true facts. But to those at a distance who have something at stake (whether relatives or commercial speculations) in the province, such tales must be productive of distress and anxiety. Those who possess the best means of information seem to consider that the settlement of the province is progressing favourably. The river from Rangoon to Meeaday is traversed by numbers of native boats, in as much security as if they were on the Ganges instead of the Irrawaddy. The people on both banks appear friendly and well disposed towards us. Officers at the several stations go out constantly some miles from cantonments, and are never molested; and though dacoities are still occasionally committed in the country within the left bank of the river, and even on one or two late occasions in the villages on the bank itself, it should be remembered that the jungle in that neighbourhood was always the haunt of bands of dacoits when the Burmese were the rulers of the country; and we cannot expect to extirpate them till an effective and well-organized police force is stationed there to give timely notice of their movements, and to oppose them where they are in sufficient numbers to do so. "Some slight acquaintance with the people of the country is necessary to enable us to understand these dacoities, of which we last year heard so much. Half a dozen muskets are fired into a village containing two or three hundred able-bodied men, by a band of dacoits, perhaps not numbering more than fifteen or twenty. The village is instantly deserted, and of course plundered and burnt by the marauders, whom the slightest show of resistance would have driven off. Then the usual exaggerated report follows, and the country is said to be overrun by armies of these gentry. It is, on the contrary, wonderful that so few depredations of this nature are committed, for there are in fact no police deserving the name. The people of the country, who, of course, would be most useful in this force, will not enlist in it readily. Indeed, the whole question of the police, so vitally important to the permanent well-being of the province, is one deserving and requiring the most serious attention of Government. If the people of the country won't serve in the force, there would be no difficulty in enlisting men for the purpose in Arracan, Chittagong, or even our own upper provinces. These would of course be, at first, from ignorance of the language (if not Mugs) and other causes, in many respects inferior to a similar force composed wholly of natives of the province; but they would be more trustworthy, and would improve and become more serviceable every day. Till an efficient police of some sort is raised and scattered through the country, we can never be said to have a firm hold of it. We know what is going on on the river bank, and a few miles inland on either side; but the interior, with certain exceptions, is as yet unexplored and unknown to us. The people there have heard, perhaps, of our annexation of the province, but they see nothing of its effects; there are no police arrangements for their protection, and they must, of course, submit to the dacoits they dread so much, and whom they dare not offend, while our Government continues but a name to them. In like manner we have no civil authority whatever on the frontier. Fortunately, the Burmese outside the frontier have shown no inclination whatever to molest or interfere with us. They certainly have not wanted opportunities." From Arracan there is news rather more exciting. It is contained in the following extract from the Hurkaru. "We understand that official intelligence has been received of an expedition having been sent by the officer commanding iu Arracan against one of the Arreng wild hill tribes. It appears that for some time past it was noticed that several of the coolies entertained by the authorities were occasionally disappearing, and notwithstanding all inquiries and search, no trace of them could be discovered. It was at last found out that one of the wild hill tribes was in the habit of seizing the coolies whenever there was an opportunity for so doing, and that the poor victims were sold into slavery across the frontier. An expedition consisting of fifty men and of one hundred Naikeskeys, under the command of Captain Sutherland, of the Arracan local battalion, was therefore fitted out, believe Velaet, or Europe, to be comprised in France and England, and I am sure he would hail an invasion by Russia with joy. Most of the natives here are firmly of opinion that Affghan and Persian armies, commanded and drilled by Russian officers, are only abiding their time to fall upon Hindostan. Any change they consider a 'gain. It is human nature, perhaps, to see him whose power we envy, humbled, and it is perhaps that feeling which makes the natives of this place so anxious to see the foundation of our government shaken, no matter by whom." The Turks are Mahomedans, as is the ruler of Oude, and the Russians look upon themselves as Christians; but in Oude it is the fashion to wish success to the Christians so called, and to hope for the destruction of their Mahomedan antagonists. A beautiful example of unity of feeling among bigoted adherents of the same creed. Nagpore, like every thing Ludian, has given rise to some angry talk. It is now part of the British dominions, having become so from circumstances that left no option but to take it, except the British Government had been prepared to do something very foolish, and at the same time very cruel to the inhabitants of the country left at its disposal. The case is stated in some of the Indian papers so well, that we prefer adopting their views to and proceeded towards the hills. Towards daybreak they arrived giving any of our own. in sight of three very formidable stockades, which were at once attacked, and one after the other taken. The expedition left with strict orders not to fire except in self-defence, the object being to effect a surprise, and to take as many prisoners as possible. However, in such cases it is almost impossible to prevent firing altogether, and we hear that two of the Arrengs had been killed in the attempt to capture them. After the stockades had been abandoned by the Arrengs, all the works, together with the property they contained, were burnt to the ground. The stockades were about fifty miles N. E. of Talook, near the Burmese frontier, and the manner in which the whole of the arrangements were carried out reflects great credit on Captain Sutherland." In relation to a country on the other side of India, we make an extract which will be regarded as important. "While all Europe is in agitation, India is gradually settling into a state of profound tranquillity. The happiest time for a nation is said to be when history has nothing to tell, and we appear likely to arrive at that enviable condition, for this Government has announced that despatches, dated the 25th of January, 1854, have been received by the Government of India from Her Majesty's Charge d'affaires at Teheran, in which he announces that the Shah of Persia had officially declared to him and to other foreign ministers at Teheran, that in the war between Russia and Turkey a strict neutrality would be observed by Persia; and therefore our Indian force will not be required, as was expected, in the Persian Gulf." The Bombay Times says "The report that Dost Mahomed had solicited Major Edwardes to send an envoy to his court at Cabul, although not confirmed, has not been contradicted, and many very plausible reasons are put forward to account for his having done so." The Bengal papers also advert to the report in a similar doubtful manner. From the British north-west there is little. The Kohat pass is now open to all, having been previously closed (it is said) by our own countrymen against the Afreedees. Turning to Oude, we find nothing for notice except one passage, which we quote, because it is always pleasant, at least it gratifies curiosity if it do not minister to self-love, to ascertain what our friends and others think of us, and what are their wishes in regard to our good or ill success in the world. It seems we furnish a subject for some discourse in Oude, as from Lucknow we have the following morceau. "The war between Russia and Turkey is still a favourite topic of conversation among the natives of Lucknow. Their sympathy is all for the former, and indeed nothing is so much desired by the Oudh court as the overthrow of the latter. The King detests Europeans, and he personally would willingly see the power of Turkey's powerful ally, England, cast down. Though he owes everything he possesses to our forbearance, and his throne to our support, Wajid Ally Shaw would rejoice at the news of a defeat over us by the arms of Russia. The latter he scarcely considers as a European power. His circumscribed notions of geography "The annexation of Nagpore has been effected, and the house of Bhonsla has ceased to reign.' There was no necessity for a proclamation, and the Government took possession, merely announcing that Mr. Mansel is Commissioner of Nagpore. A contemporary in reference to this states, 'By the fundamental law of India' the state had lapsed to the paramount power, and there was as little necessity for decrees, as if a zemindar's estate had passed under the hammer. The people care nothing about the change. The family of Bhonsla was absolutely extinct. Its original right, like all that of the Mahratta princes, was that of a gang of dacoits to the estate on which they have squatted. Even this right had ceased to exist. The last rajah, himself an adopted son, was absolutely alone in the world. There was not even a collateral remaining, and Nagpore passed at once to the power from whom all authority in India is practically derived. Like Pegu and the Punjab, Scinde and Assam, it is to become a non-regulation Province. Its revenue of fifty lakhs, once relieved of the native court, is even now sufficient for improvement, and the wise policy adopted in the Punjab and in Pegu-expense first and sanction afterwardwill we hope be extended to Nagpore.'" From Ceylon the reports on the gold discovery are not very promising. The date of the paper from which we copy that which follows is the 25th of March, a day on which a supply of gold is found by many in England particularly useful. But the sum of the matter is not flattering. "The gold discovery announced in our last has continued to engross the attention of the public and the press, and in our columns will be found all the information and much of the discussion to which it has given rise. The result seems to be that Ceylon numbers gold amongst her mineral products, although not in quantities to render the search for it remunerative, or pleasant in such a climate as ours." The quotation which we next submit is from the same article as that just made, but a little lower in place. "Of course, the coffee-planting community have been in a state of suspense anything but pleasant. Many of the leading planters visited the Diggings, and we believe this Mail leaves them pretty well re-assured. There is gold-dust in the rivers of Brazil, but coee-planting there has been found the more profitable pursuit. So, we may venture to assert, it will continue to be here." This, we think, is sensible. The journalist, however (the Observer), comforts himself and his readers by turning from gold to pearls, iron and coal, "black" materials "and white;" we doubt, however, whether pearls can properly be termed minerals. "But if Ceylon is to derive no revenue from profitable gold-mines, we are glad to have the strongest possible assurance, that, after a dreary interval of nearly twenty years, another of our ancient mineral resources is about to become productive. The result of Captain Steuart's recent inspection of the Aripo pearl banks is, that a really profitable fishery will take place in 1855. The last occurred in 1837. It appears also from Dr. Gygax's reports on the geology of Saffragam, that millions of tons of iron lie there embedded, while specimens of anthracite are said to have been found in the same district. If anthracite in quantity to work the iron could be found, Ceylon would not be long without a railway, while the steamers calling at Galle could be supplied with coal at a cheaper rate than that which it requires a fleet to bring them now from far-distant Britain. We understand that one public-spirited and enterprising gentleman is so impressed with the importance of the subject that he has offered a reward of 100l. to any party who may make a discovery on a tract of land which he owns in the district." We ought, perhaps, to mention that we are in possession of a Supplement to the Observer, published two days later than the above, wherein no mention, good, bad, or indifferent, is made of gold. A paper of the same date, 27th, issued in regular course, does not revive our hopes. As to Chinese affairs, as these are notoriously difficult to understand (always excepting the wonderful death and glory competition system, for which we are indebted to the Chinese), we think that we cannot do better than give a copious extract from the Friend of China, as we find it :"The latest newspaper to hand from Peking is of a date equivalent to our 14th of January,-nearly a fortnight before the commencement of the New Year of the old dynasty. In a memorial in it, from the Censor Yung Paou, inspector of the central part of the city, setting forth the want of discipline in the military preparations for defence of the capital, and the distressed condition to which the inhabitants were reduced, it is incidentally mentioned, that (in confirmation of what we have before reported) at that date the rebel camp was only 70 miles distant-the Imperialist military commanders were not agreed in their views, and had not succeeded in any plan for the rebels' extermination ;-that, according to the confession of spies who had been arrested, very many of the insurgents had arrived at the capital, where they hired houses, and secretly endeavoured to enlist persons in their cause; -that the soldiers of the capital, whether belonging to the Chinese or Tartar regiments, existed very much in name only-that the poorer inhabitants, who could not afford to remove from a place where they could find no employment, were obliged to starve and die;'-that the board of revenue, being straitened for means, had, with the sanction of Hienfung, taken a per-centage from rentals,but, in some cases, so poor were the holders that they prayed the board to take the houses altogether. "The memorial displays the most painful distress at the northern capital, and gives every reason for hope that, ere this, Heinfung and his nominal' Tartar army are well over the border, and the road paved for the crowning result. "From Nanking, the southern capital, we have no other intelligence than the report that the Tartar general Heang-yung was at last about to vacate the position he had tried to maintain between it and Chin Keang, and that a desperate and final attempt would be made to retake Shanghae. "The authorities at Fuh-chau have been obliged to give up their endeavours to subdue rebellious parties in the country adjacent, and are now looking carefully to their own intrenchments. The emperor's uncle, the viceroy, was preparing for a trip to Shingking, in Manchoura, to which place, as we mentioned some time ago, the emperor Heinfung has directed the revenue to be forwarded. About Canton, matters remain quiet-though the authorities are now convinced their day is fast approaching. "The winter, favourably for the insurgent southerns, unused to severe cold, has been of extraordinary mildness. The ice-crop about Shanghae is a complete failure; and, singular circumstance, it will be necessary for foreign residents to import a cargo of the luxury from America." We must make one quotation more. It relates to a commercial subject of importance. The unsettled state of the country must be borne in mind, as well as some former occurrences, to render one extract intelligible. "A week before the departure of the last mail-packet for England, her Majesty's plenipotentiary and superintendent of trade left this port for Shanghae in H.M.S. Encounter. It was at the time generally supposed that the object of his excellency's visit to the north was the securing for British subjects equal enjoyment of the privilege so unwarrantably assumed by the Americans, of shipping teas and other China produce, without paying a cent. of duty. But before the Encounter reached Shanghae, the Americans had made a show of coalescing with the British consul, and had consented to pay duties to the Chinese authorities temporarily stationed in an Englishman's house not far from the British Consulate, so that the necessity for any interference by the superintendent of trade was, for him, for the occasion, happily avoided. "We have said the Americans made a show of coalescing with us;-but before they did so, the leading American firm, under the able management of the American consul, its managing partner, had comfortably provided for any necessity to report at his Consulate, or to pay duties at the Chinese custom-house. Native vessels in a long line on the river, flying the consul's house-flag, were first of all fully laden with all the tea it was possible to put hand on ;as much as two thousand tons of the herb, even now, lying safely stored at the anchorage, all ready for shipment in the first vessels available. Of course, directly H.M.'s consul announced, on the 9th ultimo, that, a custom-house being again established, it was his intention, in concert with the representatives of the other foreign powers possessing treaties with China, to enforce the payment of duties on all exports, British merchants had no option but to assent to the justice of the tri-consular intention (?). Such assent, however, was not given without a representation to Mr. Consul Alcock of the want of protection against the illicit shipment, in American and other vessels, of the large quantity of tea stored in the junks. and other craft at Woosung. "To this Mr. Alcock replied, that if it was duly authenticated before him that any part of that tea left Woosung without the duty being paid, he would then immediately accord to British traders equal privilege, and that Shanghae, to all intents and purposes, should become a free port; but, on the other hand, until so assured of the systematic evasion of port regulations, he threatened with certain confiscation any vessel taking advantage of the times, and of defrauding the Chinese custom-house of its dues. So circumstanced, the British traders kept a sharp look-out after their Ameriean and other free-trading neighbours, and having been well satisfied of the manner in which the American ship Helena had obtained her cargo and had left the port,-how a Russian ship had been filled up, also without going to Shanghae or giving the usual bond, and how the coasting clipper Eamont, and four other schooners, had run the gauntlet,-they, on the 1st instant, again memorialized the consul, and lest there should be any alleged mistake about the thing after the superintendent left the port, they addressed H.E. the following letter." The letter is too long to be quoted in this place. It complains of the great depression of trade, and of the disorderly army of the Chinese as tending to perpetuate the depression. The Friend of China concludes the matter by stating that "At the departure of H.M. Str. Salamander from Shanghae, no answer had been accorded either by the consul or the plenipotentiary to the letter from the Chamber of Commerce." CASUALTIES BY DEATH IN THE ARMIES OF INDIA, REPORTED SINCE OUR LAST PUBLICATION. BENGAL. Capt. E. P. T. Nepean, 38th L.I., at Dinapore, Mar. 7; Col. Sir J. Tennant, K.C.B., art., at Lahore, aged 64, Mar. 6; Lieut. R. R. Cumberland, 61st N.I., at Walcott, near Brigg, aged 26, April 12. MADRAS.-Lieut. C. F. Hunter, 22nd N.I., at Mhow, Mar. 17; Lieut. H. M. Norris, 2nd Eur. L.I., at sea on board the st. Indiana, Mar. 15; Capt. J. Eykyn, 15th N.I., of Ashleton, Shropshire, April 16. BOMBAY.-Lieut. G. R. Scatcherd, 24th N.I., at Oliver Terrace, Mile End Road, April 11. REPORTING EXTRAORDINARY.-The march of intellect is rapid in Bengal. We have heard that it is not unusual in England for those who are about to hold forth at public meetings or dinners to send written copies of the speeches they intend to deliver to the members of the fourth estate, in order that the publie may be pleased and surprised by a sample of their eloquence in the earliest issue of the journals to whose editors these are furnished. Young Bengal seems determined to go a-head of the dwellers in the old country, and on Friday last one of our reporters sent us an account of the examination of the missionary school at Mirzapore, which he represented to have taken place on the previous Tuesday. He unfortunately forgot to warn us, that the shadow of coming events had so strongly impressed itself upon his mental vision as to enable him to write an account of a meeting, to give the name of one of the reverend gentlemen present, and the substance of the speech of another, before the circumstances had actually occurred. We published on Saturday morning the account of an examination which was not held until the following Monday. Our reporter, while looking thus far in futurity, should have gone just a little further. He might then have learnt what would have been the consequence of his indulging his powers of "second sight."Bengal Hurkaru. [It may be recollected, that about five-and twenty years ago, something like this occurred with regard to an anti-papal meeting held at Pennenden Heath, when a speech, written by the late Mr. Shiel, and given by him to a reporter was duly published as part of the proceedings, though not a single line of it had ever been spoken.] BURMA H. RANGOON. There was a report that a revolution had taken place at Ava, by which the war party had obtained the ascendancy; and another that two officers had been wounded, one of them mortally; but as they both want confirmation, we cannot but hope that the second has no foundation, and probably is a mere repetition of the rumour which preceded the definite intelligence regarding the skirmish in which Captain Geils and Lieutenant Grant were wounded. From Prome we hear, under date of 17th February, of tranquillity and security of life being in the ascendant. These results are attributed to the circumstances of provisions being cheaper, work abundant, and payments regular. Hundreds of natives are employed in the construction of roads in all directions, and other government works. The head-quarters of the 65th N.I. had reached Prome, the C troop of Madras artillery was about to leave it, and most of the troops lately out in the district had returned. In Bassein district affairs are reported to be prosperous, and it is said that a Court of Inquiry is to sit upon an officer, who is accused of not having given sufficient support to the civil authorities during the late outbreak. Nga Pew, the dacoit chief, is said to be again at the head of an armed band, numbering 4,000 men Extracts will be found under the usual heading. REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF FORESTS.-We hear that the report of the officiating Superintendent of Forests has been satisfactory, and there is every likelihood that the trees killed and felled will be put up to public competition by the middle of this month. If there is any foundation to be placed in this report, we may yet hope to see this benighted land prospering better than anticipated by some of the English journals. KILLING OR WOUNDING OF MAJOR ALLAN AND SEVERAL OTHER OFFICER There has been a report flying about the town that Major Allan and several other officers, who have been appointed to mark the boundaries, have either been killed or mortally wounded. With reference to the first officer, we have it from undisputable authority that he was well, and knew nothing of his death on the 25th instant." We were blamed for not having announced this gentleman's death in our last; we mentioned at that time, we wanted it to be authenticated, and were we to publish every gup, we should often bring ourselves into a greater dilemma than we did when we announced Teling had been retaken by the Burmese. It is true, we believe, that two officers have been wounded, one of whom is supposed to be mortally, Rangoon Chronicle, March 4. Mededelia bra inore I SIR JOHN CHEAPE.-Sir John Cheape arrived BENGAL. NAGPORE. THE POLICY OF THE EMPIRE. Carlyle, in one of the terse sentences, into which that unequal writer sometimes compresses a volume of truth, says there" is strength in silence." The last and best illustration of the apophthegm is the manner in which the annexation of Nagpore has been completed. The Indian government has remembered its duty, has adhered to the policy announced by its head, and has accepted the responsibility it has so frequently ignored. It has refused to believe its own dominion worse than the despotism of a native. It has declined to set up a new puppet, useless except to retard the progress which without him would be inevitable. It has annexed Nagpore, and, like most of its good deeds, the annexation has passed unnoticed. With every possible excuse for the indulgence of a vanity, not perhaps valueless as an element of prestige, it has not even issued an official proclamation. The "House of Bhonsla has ceased to reign," but no manifesto announces the fact with magniloquent sententiousness. A territory, twice the size of the principalities for which Russia is risking the advantages of a century, has been added to the dominions of the British Crown. Yet the world is only informed that "Mr. Mansel is Commissioner of Nagpore." A population equal to that remnant of the European Ottomans, in whose defence Europe is now arming, has exchanged a despotic master for a civilised rule. Yet it will learn the fact, only from the removal of oppressive restrictions, and from that reconstruction of society which Indian officials denominate a "6 revenue settlement." We question whether even in the States, where an Indian territory, as large as England, is styled a "windfall for the land office," so great a change was ever effected with so insignificant a display. Yet the silence of the Government, remarkable as it may appear to English politicians, seems for once to have been well timed. The annexation, however vast in its extent, or in its consequences, was a mere matter of course. By the fundamental law of India, the state had lapsed to the paramount power, and there was as little necessity for decrees, as if a Zemindar's estate had passed under the hammer. The people cared nothing about the change. The soldiery probably approved of higher pay and stricter discipline. The family of Bhonsla was absolutely extinct. Its original right, like that of all the Mahratta princes, was that of a gang of dacoits to the estate on which they have squatted. Even this right had ceased to exist. The last rajah, himself an adopted son, was absolutely alone in the world. There was not even, we believe, a collateral remaining, and Nagpore passed at once to the power from whom all authority in India is practically derived. Like Pegu, and the Punjab, Scinde and Assam, and in short, all our acquisitions for half a century, it is to become a Non-Regulation Province. Its revenue of fifty lakhs, once relieved of the Native Court, is even now sufficient for improvement, and the wise policy on Thursday last, and landed yesterday ander on the Sutledge adopted in the Punjab and in Pegu,-expense first, and sanction due to his rank.-Ibid. M the usual salute 3 st bna shuanin qaza 20.6 MOULMEIN, quiwode rrived here in the of the Tran THE 18TH REGIMENT, M.N.I.-The 18th Regiment, M.N.I., which lately sport Teazer, and a company of H.M.'s 29th Regiment, left this on the 11th instant, in charge of treasure, to the amount of two lakhs of rupees, for Sittang and Shway-gyeen, and the former will afterwards proceed on to the destination of the corps, Tounghoo. -Advertiser, February 20. The third and last instalment, with the head-quarters of the 18th M.N.I., which arrived from Munsoorcottah in the transport Atalanta a few days back, will, it is said, leave this in all the current week to join the other two divisions at Tounghoo.—Ibid. LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHNSON, 26th N.I., being about to leave the station with his corps, we believe the command of the Provinces will temporalily devolve on Lieutenant-colonel J. W. Goldsworthy, of the 1st N.I.-Ibid. CAPT. WRIGHT.-We are informed that Capt. J. H. Wright, of the 1st regiment M.N.I., who lately underwent an examination in the Burmese language by the Reverends Hough, Haswell, and Bennett, passed the ordeal very successfully, and that he will, in all probability, be very shortly appointed to some staff situation under the commissioner of these provinces.-Ibid. Feb. 27. LAUNCH.-We have to inform our readers that a splendid ship of upwards of a thousand tons burthen, which has been built on account of Messrs. Soames, Brothers, London, will be launched from the dockyard of Messrs. Dunbar and Sons, Mopoon, at high water about four o'clock this evening. We have heard several persons speak of the maiden craft as a paragon of naval architecture, and that her construction reflects infinite credit on the builder, T, B. Cousens, Esq.-Ibid, March 1. afterwards-will, we hope, be extended to Nagpore. A revenue settlement and a criminal code, rough justice and a few roads, will speedily make the province an important section of the strength of the empire. With a fertile soil, and abundance of minerals, it needs only the population which a strong government will speedily. allure. It is not, however, the value of the acquisition which in our: eyes lends importance to this resolution of the Indian Goverment. It is because we see in it an acknowledgment of those cardinal to maintain." Nations," says a recent writer, " principles of Indian policy, which this journal has so long striven cannot flourish without a purpose," that is, without that clear design, and those settled principles of action which we call a policy. In maintaining such a purpose, the Indian Government labours under diffitution. It has none of that party spirit, which makes itself felt culties peculiar to itself. It has nothing hereditary in its constieven in the military monarchies of Europe. Its administration is. D the most fluctuating in the world. The elective monarchy of Poland, and the revolutionary Governments of France are stable, compared with a system in which one man is all powerful, and that one is changed in every half decade. Nevertheless, in spite of the anomalous constitution of the Government, of its subordinate position, and of its incessant fluctuations, two or three great principles appear to be slowly gaining ground. They are. unity of dominion, equality of taxation, and centralization of the executive authority. When they are acknowledged, India will be a power qualified to take a high place, not only in Asia, but the. world. 1. Unity of dominion. The two hundred and fifty kinglings, whose names and territories have been recorded by the Court of Directors, must inevitably disappear, and that speedily. It is not our purpose to repeat the arguments by which we have proved how completely their existence is incompatible with progress. After eighteen years of vituperation, the responsibility before God and man" is acknowledged at last; the Times declares the treaties effete; the Indian Government asserts its right to take every honourable opportunity of extending its territories; the independent states are styled Palatinates; and the annexation of Nagpore found but one formidable opponent. The principle is admitted. We have only to show how rapidly it will operate. The present Governor-General has been at the head of affairs scarcely six years, yet in that short period three great states have been surrounded with the red line. Not to mention Sattara, Sumbhulpore, Berar, and about a dozen smaller principalities, the Punjab, Pegu, and Nagpore are alone equal in area to Spain, in population to Prussia, and in revenue to Denmark. What is more to the purpose; they are equivalent to one-seventh of India itself. Nor is the process likely to be retarded. An Indian aristocracy dies out even more quickly than the aristocracies of Europe. We have not all the facts before us, but from a consideration of some volumes of Indian treaties, we believe we are justified in saying there is scarcely one of the Indian royal houses so old as the British dominion. With some remarkable exceptions, they have all been compelled to adopt, and even adoption does not appear to have preserved them. If the same process should continue, and we see no reasonable probability of its cessation, India will in less than a century pass under British authority. We say nothing of other sources of decay. The independence of Guzerat can scarcely last; the Government of Oude has broken its most solemn treaties; Parliament may yet listen to the slaves of Travancore, and the Arabs of the Deccan are not yet expelled. Setting aside all these as only probabilities, the determination of the Government, as evinced in Nagpore, renders the ultimate unity of the empire only a question of time. 2. The centralization of the executive power is becoming yearly more and more complete. In May of the present year, the richest portion of our territories, Bengal and the North-west provinces, the Punjab and Pegu, will be governed by commissioners, under different titles, it is true, but all equally responsible for their executive authority to the central government. Every new territory becomes a non-regulation province, and of every non-regulation province Lord Dalhousie is the virtual governor. He signs every sentence of death in Jhansee. The appeal from General Cubbon and Mysore lies to him. Colonel Bogle, when not too precipitate, submits final sentences passed in the Tenasserim provinces for his approval. Even the Baroda residency has been separated from Bombay, and Colonel Outram was not reappointed by Lord Elphinstone. With the fall of the native princes, this tendency must increase. The only great obstacle, the pseudoindependence of the minor presidencies, and their real power of communicating direct with England, may perhaps endure for another twenty years. By that time, the disparity between the territories improved by the lieutenant governors and the territories kept quiet by English peers, will be too glaring even for an English ministry. We make no attempt to predict, but we cannot believe that the lesson afforded by the experience of the last five years at Madras and Bombay can be lost at home, and if not lost, India will within a generation be one and indivisible. It is not only in our political relations that the tendency to centralization is to be traced, It extends itself to every department of the administration. Year by year the old system of boards is broken up. the new departments, and most of the old, have received separate heads, who are personally responsible for their management, and personally in communication with the Government. The rage for public works, the readiness of Government to grant assistance to private companies, and the growing reliance upon the central authority, all tend in the same direction, Every new reform centralizes authority. The improvement of the police has that principle for its basis; the reform of penal discipline was enforced by arguments which mean that or nothing; the union of the collector and magistrate is part of the same system. Every scheme All for national education must have Government for its motive power. We express no opinion on the character of these reforms. Our object is not to argue, but to afford our readers materials for thought by pointing out facts, which they will on examination find it impossible to deny. We would only observe en passant that but two systems of government have ever permanently succeeded in great countries, the perfect centralization of France, and the perfect municipal government of America. The latter has in India invariably broken down. 3. Equality of taxation. In this respect but little progress has been made. India is still oppressed by the evil which crushed the Roman Empire, which produced the French revolution, and which is the primary cause of the present weakness of Turkey. The whole pressure of taxation is borne by a single class, and that class, the agriculturists. Practically, the remainder of the community, like the lowest class in England, are as untaxed as nomads. Moreover, one of the exempt classes is the richest in the community. The merchant and the money-lender, the bill broker, whose transactions extend from Calcutta to Peshawur, the Benares banker, whose wealth may compare with that of the greatest European houses, pay nothing at all for the order which protects their accumulations. The artisan and the shopkeeper, the clerk and the soldier, in short, all classes except the agriculturists are exempt, except as regards the salt for which all pay alike. To add to the anomaly, some of the richest even of the agriculturists pay nothing. There are jagheerdars without end in the Northwest. In Bengal we have pushed the theory of public faith so far, that we have for ever exempted, not individuals or classes, but all who may chance to purchase certain patches of land, from any taxation whatsoever. We still, however, see hope of progress. The impolicy of this exceptional taxation begins to be admitted. It has been boldly, though most injudiciously, asserted in England, that all Indian land ought to be taxed. In Pegu, we shall probably not exempt a square foot; in Bombay the Enamgrants are steadily attacked; in the Punjab the area of rent free land is systematically diminished; and lastly, we hear rumours of a system of licensing tradesmen, and of stamping hoondees, which will alleviate, if it cannot remove, the inequality between the taxation borne by the moneyed classes and the landholders. The policy of the empire, for good or evil, is, we submit, becoming more distinct.-Friend of India. MR. DANBY SEYMOUR.-FOR THE LAST TIME. We have completed our inquiries into the proceedings of Mr. Danby Seymour, and regret to find that the result is utterly unsatisfactory. So complete and formal were the denials by the Madras press of the accuracy of our previous statements, that it was necessary to demand proof from our informants. Those proofs are now before us, and they would convince a Westminster jury, an Indian judge, or the editor of the Madras Athenæum. They consist of the written statements of four gentlemen, whose integrity is as unimpeachable as their means of information. With one slight exception, every word we have hitherto published, has been distinctly substantiated. Mr. Danby Seymour was accompanied by the individuals we named, and was declared to be the queen's commissioner. Grievances were investigated, promises of redress were given, and in short, Mr. Danby Seymour was used as an instrument in the hands of the Madras Native Association. The exception refers to the picture of tortures. Availing themselves of a wretched verbal quibble, the Madras papers have declared our story a "complete fabrication." It was nothing of the kind. The picture was not hung up, as we were at first informed, but it was exhibited, more especially in the Dawk Bungalow, at which Mr. Seymour for several days held a kind of cutcherry. It was presented to that gentleman at Madras, was exhibited to several civilians, and scores of ryots were questioned as to the accuracy of the scenes depicted. For these facts, our authority is Mr. Danby Seymour. We have no desire further to discuss a subject, by no means a pleasant one in itself, and our object in entering upon which has been entirely misapprehended. Mr. Seymour fortunately was relieved of his companions before his journey was completed, and when he saw with his own eyes, without their spectacles, his vision is said to have been sufficiently clear. We condemn him simply for allowing himself to be misled, a fact of which he is by this time almost as sensible, as every European of common sense with whom he entered into conversation.-Friend of India. THE CARAVAN TRADE OF THE PUNJAB. We noticed last week the great extent of the silk trade between Bokhara and the Punjab, but the entire subject of the traffic between India and Central Asia deserves more attention than it has yet received. So far as it passes through Bombay and Scinde, it is tolerably understood. Manchester has a vague idea that "Central Asia can purchase piece goods, is interested in the prosperity of Kurrachee, and is inquisitive about the quality of Russian chintzes. To all these ideas, Mr. Frere, sensible how rapidly a little English capital may develop the resources of his province, has readily responded, and the result is a mass of information, which, if incomplete, still enables us to comprehend the general character of the trade. Another portion, however, which passes through the Punjab, is by no means so generally known, yet though insignificant, in comparison with the vast sea-borne trade, it is well worthy an attentive consideration. Unfortunately, the authorities of the Punjab, perhaps from the pressure of more important business, have neglected to keep up the trade returns, which previous to the annexation were carefully compiled. Such returns, upon the plan adopted by Mr. Montgomery in Cawnpore, might easily be procured. The existing establishments, we imagine, would suffice, and the investigation should be made |