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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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¦ V . . . THE NEWS PROM INDIA . The incoming Overland Mail brings us that sort of intelligence which , however disagreeable in itself , is mitigated by the belief that ' one has heard the worst . ' It is our belief that we have now heard the worst from India . True , that many public calamities and private griefs may be yet either in esse , or in posse ; but when all such shall have been fully recorded and taken into account , their sum total , however great , will not , we conceive , enhance the material facts of the case as developed in the last news received .
Now , the material facts of the case are , simply , that mutiny has ripened into rebellion , and that rebellion has so far prospered as to . mean nothing less than extensive and , it may be , prolonged warfare . When we speak of having heard the worst , we mean to imply our now too certain conviction that England is pledged to the task of absolutely reconquering a very large portion of her dominions in the East . The magnitude of such a task may be roughly estimated by any one who will take the
trouble of casting his eye over the map of India , and noting the immense extent of territory which hns been more or less the scene of revolt and massacre . In the Punjab , although the Sepoy regiments have been disbanded—not without bloodshed in some instances—the civil government appears to have maintained its supremacy . In Scinde , no disturbance has taken place ; tranquillity prevails throughout the Presidencies of Bombay and Madras ; and in Bengal Proper , all immediate danger ceased with the disbandment , or disarming , of the very few Sepoys usually quartered in . that province . But , even after these
considerable deductions , it will , by reference to wellknown names , be readily ascertained that all the provinces of Northern Hindostan , together ¦ with those of Central India , may be regarded as ipfected districts . This will reveal to the geographical inquirer an enormous extent of territory , the boundaries of which may be loosely defined as follows , commencing on the Bengal side , viz ., the rivers Soane and Gogra ; the Himalaya Mountains : the Sutledge ; the western deserts ; the Iiiver Nerbuada op the south-west . The whole of the vast _ area thus indicated , including British territory and tributary or independent native states , may be estimated at about 350 , 000
square miles , containing a population of some 60 , 000 , 000 inhabitants . Within these limits , we fear , it must now be admitted that British influence and authority have almost ceased to exist , unless where supported by the actual presence of British troops . We cannot but fear that the fall of Delhi is at the present moment an event of less immediate likelihood than it was in the beginning of June . The contemptibly small number of the mutineers within the walls was at that time well known : but they have
since that period received many reinforcements , and have had ample leisure for developing the immense materiel for an obstinate defence which our captured arsenal places at their disposal . What numerical accessions of strength the mutineers may have received is not accurately known ; but it seems certain that the 5 th and 60 th N . I ., and subsequently the late Nusseerabad brigade , had joined them almost bodily . And it is possible that still larger reinforcements may be on the way , either from Rohilcund , or from Neemuch , Saugor , &c . Should confessed numerical
weakness on the part of the British force , or the consequences of an unhealthy season , make it imperative to raise the siege of Delhi , that act must be viewed simply as the closing of a resultless campaign . Our losses have already been fearful . Men like Sir Henet La whence and Sir Hugh Wheelem are an army in themselves . Fresh European regiments , it is true , were being pom * ed into the North-Western Provinces ; but the depletion , if continued , must have induced temporary weakness—and -with every desire to pursue vigorous measures , a season of inaction may be forced \ ipon our military chiefs .
In the meantime , the Bengal army has fairly disappeared . We have already given expression to some of our ideas upon the subject of its reorganization , and are anxious for aii opportunity of explaining them more fully . l' \) r the present , we must be content to hope that whatever is to be done , will be undertaken upon careful and mature deliberation . Let us have no more improvising , no more make-shifts . And above all , let us not rush from any one extreme into another , or relinquish a cherished mistake to embrace the opposite error .
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OUR CLOSE PEERAGE . Thkhe is to be a creation of peers . The blessed intelligence first burst upon the public in the inspired Sunday journal in this form : — We believe that some elevations to tbe peerage of the United Kingdom will be announced in due course nt the end of the session . They will consist of Commoners of the highest wealth , who have occupied seats in the Lower
House for many yoara , and of a few Irish and Scotch peers . There is alBO talk of the elevation of a veteran statesman—respected by all parties—to the highest rank in the peerage of Great Britain . At whom could this description point ? Who were the ' few Irish and Scotch peers ' that were to form the hangers-on of the new creation ? Who were the ' commoners of the highest wealth' that hard occupied seats in the Lower House ? Was Baron Lionel » e
Bothsohii / d , who has not yet sat , about to be introduced into the House of Lords by the power of the Crown , and to transfer to that chamber the Oaths question ? Was Mr . RouPBiiL , or Mr . "Williams , to be recognized as noble on the score of being rich ? Was Mr . 3 Ej > wakd Ellicb , who belongs by connexion and predilection to the aristocratic classes , to receive titular recognition ? Was the new contingent , which , from the description in the Observer , seemed likely to be numerous , intended to affect the vote next session on the subject of the Oaths Bill or the lieform Bill ? None of these anticipations appeared to be carried out when the
first specific list of names was brought before the public . Amongst the number we have Lord Robert G- $ osvenob , not a commonei who is understood to be distinguished espe > cially for his wealth ; Lord John UtrssEiii . still less distinguished in that line ; and Lore Harry Vane . By degrees it became kno . wn that Lord Robert Gtrosvenob ' s elevatioi was certain ; then it was understood that th < Dukedom was intended for the Marquis o
Lansdowne ; and ultimately a third Pec was to be added to the list , —Lord RoBEir representing the commoner of the highes wealth ; Lord Lansdowne the veterm statesman ; and one other noble lord tlv ' few Scotch or Irish peers' mentioned ii the original report . ' Oh what a falling of is here , my countrymen ! ' three persons , wh < are Lords' already , standing as the new Peers .
After all , it seems a matter about whicl the public need not trouble itself . It wri * said that ' distinguished commoners ' would be taken into the House of Lords ; but any of the gentlemen who have been mentioned are more distinguished for their connexion with the aristocracy than their repute as commoners . Lord Robert Grosvenor , for example , , has been a most respectable meiubei
of Parliament ; but if we have valued his consistent liberality , it has been because we have measured what he has been against what lit might have been . He has been very liberal fora Lord ; but a Lord he has been by name and nature , although not by technical position ; and his admission to the House of Peers will not affect the councils or legislation ot the country in any appreciable degree . it in
Prom the first announcement was - ferred that ' new blood' was to be introduced into the House of Lords , while the very characteristic of men who have been mentioned is essentially old blood . A Gtrosvenor will not readily consent to reckon him self amongst the parvenus ; the Honourable Compxon Cavknjjish , who has been thought of , would not count himself amongst ' new men ; ' the Russexxs of Bedford do not go back as Englishmen beyond the reign of Henry VIII ., but they have antecedents in France before that date ; and eminent as they have been in the history of England , they certainly do not constitute ' new' blood for either House .
And ' the Lord deliver me from Sir IT Aim v Vane' as a statesman of new blood ; or from Lord Henry Petty as new to English politics in any sense . No ; whatever merits we may allow to men in other respects , these are old , —old in name , in condition , connexions , associations , and opinions . If any one of them had really imparted something like newness of blood to the House of Lords , it would have been Lord John RttsseIiL ; not the youngest of the list , and yet the one who retains the greatest freshness of spirit and idea . Perhaps he might
havo done something to renovate the vitality of the House of Lords ; but he has eschewed the difficult , the almost hopeless task ; and why ? Because the House of Lords has , by its consistent course of action for many years past , effectually removed itself from practical English politics . The body of men who are seated in that assembly can stop the pctiou of the Commons and even of the Government . We had an example in the case of
the Wensleydalo Peerage , where they stopped the Executive from employing the undoubted power of the Crown to create a new land of peer for judicial purposes . Wo saw it again this session in the stoppage of the Oaths Bill , against the opinion of the Executive , the Commons , of the constituencies , and oi the entire country . Vor although the admission of Baron LiONJOfc » k Bowisouim > m tho House of Commons does not go far to aafciafy
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¦ NOTICES TO OOBJtBSPONPBNTS . the iJircHX of iiisroABTBB —In oar last vreet ' simpression i ? iral stated through a ' clerical error , that Mr . Coniiig-L ^^ oSd b " nns ? forward his motion on the-Duchy of KcM ° ' ea ? ly next week . ' The statement should have been ' early next session . *
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Tir * , g « ft Atotjst 29 , 1857 . 1 THE HABil 829
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public Maixs .
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2 here is nothing so revolutionary , because therein nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world isby thevery law of its creation in eternal progress . —Db . Abnoxd
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SATURDAY , AUGUST 29 , 1857 .
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Durinsr the Session of Parliament it is often impossible to findxopmfor correspondence , even the briefest . It is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently fromtreasons quite independent of the merits of the communication . No notice can be taken of anonymous correspondence . Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 29, 1857, page 829, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2207/page/13/
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