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482 THE LEADER. [No, 426, May 22, 1858 ....
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The West Indies.—A good deal of exciteme...
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IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. —-?—ilfqnday, May I...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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K S The Week Advanced, The Fight Between...
change proposed by Mr . Locke King , the principle of sale by weight appearing to be in very general favour . The ma . il from Bombay has brought us little new intelligence of the progress oi" events in India , but it has supplied us with tolerably full details of the actions referred io in the pluvious mail . Sin . Hugh Hose ' s ¦ capture of 31 mnsi stands out as a brilliant feat of arms , now that \ re know the Avh-ole
story . His defeat of the troops sent to force him to raise the siege , followed by his immediate storming of the city , exhibit first-rate generalship . The escape of the Ranee , who so fiercely defended the place , and of whose complicity with the massacre of June last many , traces were found , deprived the victory of the completeness it would otherwise have had . With regard to the capture of ' Kota . li , by General Roberts , on the 30 th of March , the news leaves us in a state of doubt . After ' fclio
capture of the place , the accounts represent-that not the least endeavour was made to prevent the flight of the rebels , or to pursue them after tliey had fled . The measures taken to capture the city , however , were all so admirable and so completely carried out , that we must , think it will appear that General II obekxs ; had very good reasons for not following up the enemy—if indeed he did not do so . Bareilly now appears to be the enemy's central point of defence ; , and their numbers there are such as to induce tlie Commander-in-Chief to march against them in person .
While in India the work of pacification goes on slowly , and with alternations of doubt and security as to the final result of our military exertions , certain sects in this country are busied—or their leaders ai * e—with the organization of means for Christianizing both Hindoos and Mahometans . The latest scheme—and perhaps the most pretentious—which has come under our notice , is a society about to be inaugurated , under the presidency of Lord Shaftes-BtruY , we believe , and to be called < c The Christian Vernacular Education Society for India . " The
objects of the society are to introduce , by means of trained schoolmasters and schoolmistresses , an extended system of Christian education , the administration of the society to be conducted by " a central committee in London , composed of members of various denominations of Evangelical Christians , and by local committees in India . " Our views upon the general question of Christianizing India arc well known ; we shall not be mistaken , then , when we
say that we dissent entirely from the opinions of the promoters of this new scheme . We cannot conceive anything more ill-timed or dangerous . To adopt the words of a valued correspondent , writing to us upon this subject , " such a society is unjust , impolitic , useless for secular , and utterly ruinous for religious purposes ; If you want a society for the cutting of English throats in India , and for securing our speedy expulsion from the country , this is the one . " m
Once more the Turks and Montenegrins arc at their old work of cutting each other ' s throats , and there seems nothing for it but for Western Europe to step in and put a final stop to the barb arism which , under the tutelage of Russia , is keeping up a . feud which may at any moment plungo Turkey into war with lier neighbours . The Turkish troops lately sent to Montenegro would anncnr to lmwn
gone with the object of enforcing the expulsion of tho arch-conspirator Prince Danilo , and the inassaorc which took placo sib Grahovo was an act of atrocious treachery on the part of tho mountaineers , who were led , it is believed , by a son of the Pnucc . Of five thousand Turkish troops that entered the Montenegrin territory not more than one hull escaped butchery .
In . Prance , within the "week , two events hayc oc * curred that speak trumpek-tongued of the condition both moral and political , of the country undor the present regime . Count MTiguon 1 ms again triumphed over tho combined influences brought ; | , o bear against him b y tho Imperial Government . In spite of tho absolute dictation of tho Government the electors of tlio UnuL-lthin have chosen Count
Migeojj in preference to the Government nominee . The supporters of the Imperial rule ad ' ect to be astonished that such a man us the Count should have successfully . worsted his opponent , supported as that opponent was by every aid and influence that tlie Government could give him . They will not see that the choice of Count Migbon ^ s a praotieal protest against the authority which lias set its armed heel upon tic freedom of 'France , -while pretending to be the jmardiau of its liberties . The second event is the diwl between a , writer in . the Paris Figaro and a sub-lieutenant in the 9 th . Chasseurs , -who wifh some thirty other sub-lieutenants had taken
ouence at a very small joke made by i he writer upon the awkwardness of sub-lieutenants in the management of their spurs in ball-rooms . No less than thirty-four challenges poured in upon the jester , M . Henri be Pene , who elected to meet his first challenger , ] M . de Coukteil . They met , and M . de Penh having ' wounded his adversary iu the hand , frankly apologized for the offence which he had unintentionally ' given . M . mis Couhtkij ., without hesitation , shook hands with him , and that appeared to be an end of tlie matter . Not so , however , for it seems that the whole of the thirty-four challengers were within sight of the first duel , and were determined to force M . de P & nk to fight them , in detail . In vain - the " seconds ' " ¦ mid
M . du Corteil interfered ; the ruffians were determined that tlie offending civilian should not escape with life , and therefore their leader , to bring the discussion to a close , insulted M . de Pene so grossly that it was impossible for him to refuse the second meeting . He fought— -his adversary being a skilled swordsman—and received first a thrust which pierced his lungs , and while falling . a second thrust , -which is believed to lave passed through his liver . There is a bare possibility of his life being sayed . But \ rhat comes of this murderous affair ? Not a journal in Paris dares allude to it , and it is utterly unknoAvn whether any inquiry , either civil or military , will take place . Such is the omnipotence of the French army at this moment . — L'annee e'est l'Empire . .
482 The Leader. [No, 426, May 22, 1858 ....
482 THE LEADER . [ No , 426 , May 22 , 1858 . I
The West Indies.—A Good Deal Of Exciteme...
The West Indies . —A good deal of excitement has been occasioned in the colony of Demerara by the discovery that Mr . Eobert Straker Turton , th « Registrar of District 4 , had absconded with some 16 , 000 dollars of the public money . ' It was supposed that the delinquent had gone in the "brigantine Despatch to NTova Scotia or the United States , and an officer was sent in pursuit of him . " This affair , " says the Colonist , " has been the means of bringing to light the loose manner in which the public business of the colony is conducted . The accounts are in inextricable confusion , owing partly to the erroneous and unbusiness-like way , in which they are kept , nnd partly to the inability of the acting financial accountant
to discharge the duties of the office , which arc of a very onerous and important character . " Turton has been declared insolvent , and his property seized "by the Administrator-Genera ] . —The labouring population of Antigua still exhibit a spirit of insubordination . Many of the most violent among them are said to have expressed , their determination , in the evontof a successful rising , to follow the exainpleof Nana Sahib ; and accordingly the women have been sent to other islands . Two companies of the 49 th Regiment are on the spot , to overawe the evilly disposed . —Tho English brig Zephyr , Captain Hunter , bound to Greenock from Trinidad , laden with , sugar , struck on the south-west end of St . Croix on
the night of the 17 th tilt ., and would most likely bo a total wreck . Efforts wore being made to save a portion of the cargo . —Yellow fever still rages at St . Thomas ' s . Tjik TunniToniAL Debt oi- Indu . —A Parliamentary paper published on Monday throws some iaiperftict light upon the question as to tho relative proportions in which tho territorial debt of India is held by natives and Europeans . Up to t . h « 30 th of April , tlie returns present tho rcspectivo totals , but for tho last eleven years no such particulars have been received , nnd the only material for forming an opinion consists in the amount of the subscriptions of each class of persons
to the various new loans opened . In 1847 , tho total Government debt in Iiidiu was 3 ( i , 53 fi , O !) 3 / ., of whi « h 23 , 44-0 , 877 / ., or about G 4 per cent ., was hold by Europeans , and only 13 , 089 , 2 lM . by natives . Thoso figures show the holdings ou tho part of tho natives to bo smaller than has generally been Hupposed . There U no reason , however , to believe that subsequently tho difturencc has been lessened . Of 9 , G 00 , 28 () i ! . subscribed to various loans up to May , 1857 , tho proportion taken l > y Europeans has leen 0 , 281 , 04 . 0 / ., or about (> 5 per cent ., against H , 319 , 2 'IOA by natives : * As regards one other loan of 4 , 0 . 'JG , 5 f » fl ? . tho rcspectivo figures arc wanting . — Times .
lim Static Proskoutionh . —It is rumoured that tho Government has nbnndonort till intention of prosecuting Mr . All . sop , owing to ti , 0 lcgn | difficulties with which thes caso is environed .
Imperial Parliament. —-?—Ilfqnday, May I...
IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT . — - ?—ilfqnday , May I 7 lk . TKLEQUAVUIG CORHESP 03 JDKXCE . In the IIouss of Lokids , Lord De Mauley moved fo copies of tfce correspondence between the English and Austrian Governments respecting telegraphic correspondence letween llagusa and Alexandria . The Earl of Malmkbburv stated that the papers were beiii " printed , ° StiAUGHriiftlNG OF CATrUC . Lord Bicrnbrs presented , a petition from the butcher s and others interested iu the supply of meat to the metropolitan markets , complaining' of the regulations that affect the slaughtering of cattle in London .
1 'ItOGllESS OK BUSINESS . ' The-Protection of FEatALK Childrkn . ' JJhjl passed through committee . —The Chelsea Hospital axb Watkk "Works Exchange of Lauds Bill ; the Chief Justice of Bombay Bill ; tlie Trustees Mortgages , & c , Bill ; and the Loan Societiicx Bill ' were read a third time , and passed . f TIIK OATHS BIIX . Peers were named to confer with the Commons respecting the Oaths Bill . The House adjourned at ' twenty-five minutes to sis o'clock .
METROPOLITAN TOLL-BARS . Colonel Forester , the Comptroller of the Household , brought up , in the House of Commons , the reply of her Majesty to the address of the Commons . The message was to the effect that her Majesty had received the address , praying that a Royal Commission might b e issued to inquire and report as to the best means of affording to the inhabitants of the districts within six miles of Charing-cross relief from turnpike tolls , similar to that granted upon the recommendation of a lloyal Commission for the metropolis of Ireland , and , hayiirntaken the address into consideration , had directed that a Koyal Commission should issue , as requested . " PRIVATE LETTERS " FROM INDIA .
Mr . II . Baillie stated , in answer to Mr . Lygson , that no further communication relative to the Oude Proclamation had been received from . Lord Canning until Saturday night , when three letters reached the hands of Lord Ellenborough , privately addressed to him , from the Governor-General of India , who had , when he wrote those missives , evidently heard of the change of administration at home . : The Consolidated Fund ( 11 , 000 , 0007 . ) Bili , was read a third time time , and passed .
THIS TOTE OF CENSURE . — AJDJOURNKI > DEBATE . The debate was resumed by Mr . Roebuck , v ho put it to the House whether they would be guided by tho great principles of honour and virtue , or whether , utterly regardless of the helpless people of India , 'they . would merely consider the aggrandizement of England . The motion made' by Mr . Cardwell : was one of tlie most transparent instances of party feeling he had ever known , and he had seen many transactions of that sort . And that was at the very moment when the House was about to take upon itself the government of India ; for it was idle and useless to talk about the Crown . The Crown means the House of Commons . But at this verv moment the happiness of 200 , 000 , 000 people is forgotten ,
and a great question is reduced to the consideration of this bunch or that . Lord Ellcnuoruugh was bound fo write an answer to the Proclamation ; and lie wrote tho right one . " He would not now enter into any discussion of the means by which they had acquired dominion in India ; but he would say this , that , going to the empire as a body of mere merchants , they had acquired the dominion of the country , though not without sacrificing , upon almost every occasion , those principles which ought to guide a nation . 1 'hey had been rapacious , cruel , and unjust ; but they hud acquired India , ll had been done by the groat capacity of men in authority , and by the valour of troops , than which nothing could be more wonderful ; but , notwithstanding this , they iuid .
sacrificed trulli , honour , and justice . ( jVo , no . ) Those might bo unpalatable truths to hon . gentlemen , but they were truths , nevertheless . There could be only one justification of our dominion , and that is , that it should conduce to the happiness of the people over whom wi govcM-n . ( lfc < ir , hair . ) But , in order that it should iln so , it must be a just nnd merciful Government . " () l " dominion in India having been acquired , the prosit body of the nation rebelled against us , and our Indian army had become mutineers ; but , having reduced Oudc , va had resorted to a system of general confiscation , though tho operations of tho Oiulenns hn <\ been those of a
national war , not , of ai revolt . Tho history of mankind furnished no parallel to such a case . Tlie ftuniMim , it was true , confiscated a good deal of KnglinU land ; but they did not . confiscate ! nil , or noiir nil . What could tho Government do ? " They were of opinion that tho issuing of tlie I ' roclnmafion would lnnl-ce tho whole people rebellious to tho vary end of thdr lives , and ho did not believe it could \ n-. contradicted that it was issued in opposition to tho opinions of Sir Colin Campbell mid Uonornl Outrani . Il « had also seen private letters to tho effect that this act of Lord Canning's was equivalent
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 22, 1858, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22051858/page/2/
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