The Victoria (st.), with the mails, left Bombay December 2nd, and reached Suez on the 18th. The mails reached Alexandria on the 20th; they were there transhipped to the Ariel (st.) which left on the following day, and conveyed them to Malta, at which place they arrived on the 26th; thence the portion for Marseilles was for- warded by H.M.'s steamer Volcano, and arrived at Marseilles on The Achilles, with the Southampton mail, was to leave on the evening of the 26th, and may be expected at Southampton on the 6th The Ardent, with Lieut. Waghorn's express, left Alexandria on the 21st of December, and reached Trieste on the 29th. The Ripon (st.) with the remaining portion of the Calcutta mail : "Colonel Lawrence, who had quitted Lahore on the 15th October, Thus much for the late seat of war-and now turning to "Our intelligence from Scinde is but scanty. It embraces, how- sion to send four men on a mission to her son. granted,—and by Sir Charles's orders, the men were provided with ru Ditto The purwannahs, or passports of safe-conduct, to Surat. More treacherous than the conduct of Proteus to Bellerophon, was that of the Governor of Scinde to the royal lady whom he thus pretended to oblige. The same officer who was directed to furnish her messengers with the purwannahs, was also instructed to have these men narrowly and secretly watched; to have them waylaid on the frontier of Scinde, carefully searched, and then brought back to Hydrabad. These orders were duly executed. About seven hundred pees in money, and some jewels, were found on the men. latter, we believe, were returned, the former had not been so at the date of our correspondent's latest information. Whether any letters were found on the men, and what was their purport, we know not; doubtless, however, Sir C. Napier expected to discover some mare's nest. And such is the state of official morals in Scinde, that we should not be surprised if some convenient Moydeen, or Gholam Shah, were to substitute for the missives of affection actually found on the messengers, some treasonable effusion from the widow of Noor Mahommed to the captive Shadad, urging him to stir up the Talpoor blood within him, to set fire to Surat Castle, murder the collector, corrupt the troops, and, marching at their head, to return to Scinde, to execute the fabulous threat put into his mouth by the Guernsey Novelist, viz. that he would place an iron ring in Charles Napier's nose, and thus drag him in triumph throughout the towns and villages of Scinde. There is no treachery, no meanness, so base as to be beyond perpetration in Scinde. Of the truth of this we have already had some proofs; on the breaking up of the Napierian rule, these will become more rife. Budrodeens, Moydeens, Meer Mahommed Khans, and Gholam Shahs, speedily learn what would be agreeable to the Burra Sahib ;' and without a compunctious qualm they supply it. No questions are asked, and should any over-scrupulous official express a misgiving, Sir Charles has always those about him who, as in the case of the Persian documents, are ready to assure him that there can be no doubt the papers are genuine.' But to return to the act of treachery itself. No political exigency can, in our opinion, justify so thoroughly unprincipled a deed. It was unworthy of a British officer, or a British diplomatist. In comparison with it, Sir James Graham's post-office espionnage was manly, and and becoming the character of a gentleman. In comparison with it, Mr. Bell's treatment of Beejar Khan appears scarcely disgraceful. In comparison with it, Sir Charles Napier's previous subtle expedients, happy ideas,' and 'ingenious devices,' sink into insignificance. Nor is it merely because it inflicts another foul blot on the faith of Englishmen, and the honour of England, that we object to it. We have another reason for denouncing it. A military officer was the instrument used by Sir Charles Napier in perpetrating this vile act; obedience to the instructions of his general, was a military duty incumbent on that officer. He received the order, and though his soul may have loathed alike the duty imposed on him, and the man who imposed it, obey he must. There was no alternative. it, we ask, to be tolerated, that high-minded British officers are to be exposed to the risk of being compelled to perform mean and disgraceful actions, whenever it suits the whims of one alike ready and unscrupulous in his expedients? Whether the officer in question was a high-minded man we know not, nor shall we stop to inquire; but he was a British officer, and we are, therefore, bound to believe an honourable gentleman." Is The Governor-General had proceeded to Loodianah, but the Commander-in-Chief remained at Simlah. Thus ends the summary of the mail; and, in conclusion, we have only to wish all our readers a happy new year, and much pleasure in reading our journal throughout it, and many succeeding ones. BENGAL. STATEMENT OF THE TRAFFIC ACROSS THE BRIDGE AT DELHI. We have been favoured with a most valuable return, which will be found in another part of our paper, of the traffic, &c. which has been carried on across the bridge of boats at Delhi for the first nine months in this year, and from this document, which comprises only such traffic, &c. as has paid bridgetoll, we may deduce, as briefly as possible, the following calculations in continuation of those previously laid before our readers in respect to the amount of traffic that would pass into the hands of a railway company on this line of road :The loads of 68,852 buffaloes for the nine months would amount to............... 16,585 ponies for do. do. 30,661 asses for do. do. Ditto Ditto Ditto 17,216 bullocks for do. do. 1,72,130 mds. 24,877} 45,991 43,240 25,440 2,635 three-do. do. for do. do. 39,520 3,060 four-do. do. for do. do. 61,200 Total 71,150 mds. 67,170 33,504 66,999 3,040 7,725 6,60,587 For 273 days, or a daily average of 2,456 maunds, so that, allowing one-half for an out-going and the other half for an incoming train, we shall have an actual amount of each direction, of 1,228 maunds of full forty-three tons. We have reason to believe that had the government stores for the same period, which were brought up the river Jumna, passed across the bridge, the daily average would have been nearly forty-six tons each way, as the weight of those stores may, in round numbers, safely be set down at 44,000 maunds for the nine months. It is also to be noted that the baggage of military officers, and in fact of all persons in, or connected with the army, and which ought to come into calculation if it were possible to do so, which it is not at present, is omitted in the table, because it pays no toll at the bridge, besides which we should doubtless have to add something considerable for government stores, treasure, &c., which have also passed the bridge, but which, paying no toll, are not noted in the return. We may, in fact, assume without stretching the point, that the traffic amounts to no less than 100 tons a day on an average, but to be on the safe side we have calculated on 80 tons only, which is below the actual known amount. We may further reasonably calculate, that of the 1,23,938 travellers on foot, one-tenth would be able and willing to avail themselves of the rail; that of the 10,322 mounted horsemen, one-fifth would do the same; that the 8,656 laden bailees would yield at least 4,328 travellers by rail; that the 684 doolies would give also one-half their number of railway passengers; and that the full number of palkees (213) might be set down to the same account, as also the 33 buggies and 13 carriages. The total of these several sums will be 19,386, yielding a daily average, at the very low proportion we have adopted, of 35} probable railway travellers each way. Another item of revenue, but which we could not reasonably calculate on at the first starting of a railway, and which is therefore omitted in our rough sketch, is that which would be available in the shape of the conveyance of cattle, of which a large number appears to have passed over the bridge. At the present rate of 3-8 rupees for 400 miles per maund the carriage of a ton of goods, for the same distance, would be 98 rupees, or 24-8 per hundred miles, or very near 4 annas per mile, or 6d in English money. It may be fairly expected that there would be no objection to pay an equalized rate of 4d. per ton per mile (which is, however, higher than the sum we previously took as the probable charge), and as the cawnp, or returns, published some time since, prove that the traffic does not materially fall off along the line of road, we may assume that there would be, at the very outset, a traffic of 80 tons per day up and down between this and Allahabad. This, at 4d. a ton per mile, would yield a daily return of 128,000d. or 3331.; which, multiplied by 365, would yield an annual return of 194,5451. irrespective of the immediate and great increase which would take place on the establishment of a railroad. Assuming (we cannot pretend to do more) that a capital of 2,000,000l. (at 5,0007. a mile, including engines and carriages), would be required to construct the road between Allahabad and Delhi, and that 100,0007, a year were required to keep up the establishments, which would be an extravagant outlay, we should have 94,000l. left to be divided as a return on the conveyance of goods alone. What might be derived from passengers would yield a separate and additional Where, then, is the truth of the assumption that railroads will not pay in India? return. We have nowhere seen any allusion made to the very important fact that the establishment of a railroad would have the very beneficial and desirable effect of leaving the land-labourer free to use a much larger proportion of his bullocks than can now possibly be the case, for the tillage of the soil. The system that at present exists is one of the greatest drawbacks that can well be imagined on the progress of agriculture; that drawback once effectually removed, the attention which would be paid to that art, must tend materially to improve the resources of the country in every respect, and bring additional land under immediate cultivation.-Delhi Gazette, Nov. 11. THE TINNEVELLY QUESTION-MR. LEWIN'S LETTER. THE Community of Madras has been for some time in a state of great commotion, but it has been viewed with comparative indifference at the other Presidencies. The questfon at issue was a matter of local interest, which was swelled into importance only by the party feeling which it excited. It was the intensity of this feeling which warned off the journalists of this and the Bombay Presidency. They felt the difficulty of getting at the plain and unvarnished truth of the case, and were unwilling to adopt views which might be one-sided and unjust. The subject has, therefore, been scarcely alluded to in the journals of the sister Presidencies, while at Madras it has for months been a topic of absorbing interest, and unfortunately also, the occasion of the most venomous vituperation. The facts, as far as they can be discovered through the deep mists in which party feeling has enveloped them, are these. The great success of the Missionaries in the Tinnevelly district, had, as usual, roused the hatred and opposition of the Hindoos, and they proceeded to acts of violence against the converts. Such will always be the case where the Gospel makes rapid progress. The natives will endeavour to arrest it, first by individual intimidation, then by combination, and finally by violence; and the case with which the Government has now to deal as it regards the Tinnevelly Christians, is just the case they will have to meet in a hundred other places The Christians appealed to the local authorities for protection, and the matter was at length carried up in appeal to the Sudder Court of Madras, where a decision was in every case pronounced against them, and their opponents returned to the district with flying colours, to redouble their opposition. We have not the Madras journals before us for reference, but we believe we are correct in stating that the friends of the Missionary cause, feeling deeply the injury it might sustain from these decisions, made an appeal to the executive Government, and a letter was written to the Sudder Court, requiring a copy of all the proceedings in the case of the Tinnevelly disturbances, and the names of the judges and officers who had been engaged in the late decisions. This communication gave great umbrage to the judges who had passed the decrees unfavourable to the native Christians, and roused the passions of the Hindoo community at Madras. Perhaps there is no city in India, from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya, which has a stronger claim to be considered the headquarters of Hindoo bigotry than Madras. This is easily accounted for. During half a century, the whole weight of Government at that presidency has been thrown into the scale of Hindooism. The local superstitions have been openly and officially fostered; salute had been fired at the festivals of the gods and goddesses, and idolatrous processions had been encouraged and dignified by the assistance of the public officers of the state. It was natural, therefore, for the Hindoos, who had hitherto seen the Government so intimately identified with their own rites and ceremonies, to take alarm at any measure which could be regarded as indicating a favourable disposition towards Christianity. The request made by Government to the Court was represented by them, or to them, as an attempt to interfere with the independence of the judges, to pollute the source of justice, and to force Christianity on the country. We are not aware, however, that the executive Government, which is responsible for the peace of the country, is bound by any law to remain indifferent to the judicial decisions which are likely to compromise it. We have only to suppose that the two judges of the Sudder had decided all these cases in favour of the Christians, and that the heathen population in the interior had been exasperated thereat, and had been led to adopt the most violent measures against the converts; and those who are now most earnest in deprecating the supposed interference of government would probably have been loudest in demanding it. But there was nothing unconstitutional and unjust, in simply ordering a copy of the proceedings of the court in these cases to be laid before government; though we question the propriety of requiring the names of those who had been engaged in the trials, because it gave the opponents of Christianity a handle for asserting that this was the prelude to their being visited with the displeasure of government for a fearless discharge of their duties. Neither, indeed, was it necessary, if the proceedings are recorded at Madras as they are at this presidency. The names of the judges who tried and decided the causes would in that case have appeared on the face of them. Be that as it may, Mr. Malcolm Lewin, the second judge of the Sudder Court, who had the appointment of provisional member of council in his pocket, became very indignant at the interference of government, and sent home a memorial to the court of directors, which the governor, either intercepted or refused to orward, at the same time assuring that gentleman that there was no intention to coerce the judges of the Sudder Court. This will, we trust, be found a correct outline of the case. Soon after, the Chief Judge of the Court enhanced the punishment awarded by a subordinate Court without consulting his colleagues, and this led to a personal altercation between him and Mr. Lewin. The discord of that Court, the highest appellate tribunal at that Presidency, was now complete, and the Marquis of Tweeddale resolved on removing Mr. Lewin from his situation on the bench. As the enhanced punishment was inflicted on certain Hindoo prisoners, who had been accused by the Christians of Tinnevelly, this circumstance served to add fuel to the flame which had been kindled among the Hindoo community. A large meeting was held to memorialize the Court of Directors" on the subject of their civil and religious privi< leges, grossly outraged and invaded by various proceedings of the Missionaries, and abetted by a large part of the Company's servants, and also by the present local Government," and they took the opportunity of offering an address of condolence and sympathy to Mr. Lewin, " on the injustice and indignity he had suffered by his removal from his high office." The address was signed by twelve thousand of the Hindoo community of Madras; by the same persons, we suppose, who lately went up to the Supreme Government with a remonstrance on the proposed law for removing the disabilities of the natives who embraced Christianity. It is, we believe, this same body, who demanded of Government that the convert should be stripped of all his ancestral property and consigned to beggary, for following the dictates of his own conscience, and who had the temerity to represent this demand, not only as in the highest degree just and reasonable, but as constituting one of those "rights" with which the British Government could not interfere without violating the compact which it was supposed to have entered into with the Hindoos. But it is with Mr. Lewin's reply that we have now to deal, and not with the bigotry or intolerance of those who addressed him; and we deeply regret to find his letter to the natives differing so widely from what the public had reason to expect from one who will shortly be called to share in the responsibilities of the executive Government of Madras. Mr. Lewin must have been fully aware from the number of the signatures, as well as from his knowledge of the state of public feeling at Madras, that the Hindoos, whether reasonably or unreasonably, were in the highest state of religious excitement; that it was the anxious wish of every friend of peace and order, whether he sided with the missionaries or not, to allay this irritation; and that it was the sacred duty of every one who enjoyed official power and influence, to use every possible effort to bring about this desirable result. Upon what principal of common prudence then, does he, standing as it were on the very steps of the Council Chamber, employ language in his reply calculated to inflame the passions of the Hindoos, and teach them to regard the Christian government of the country with feelings of hostility, as the bitterest enemies of their faith? Where was the wisdom of telling them "if the government had met with no resistance in their attempt to coerce the judges of the Sudder Court into measures fatal to impartial justice, it is probable that the next attempt would have been an open and undisguised one, to force Christianity upon the Hindoos !" Is this language for a gentleman in Mr. Lewin's official position, and with his official prospects, to use in reference to the government of the country, to men whese fanatical passions were at the time raised to the highest pitch? Was it for the future member of council to cast this spark into the magazine? We set aside the insult offered to the Marquis of Tweeddale, the head of the government, in asserting, that though his lordship has disclaimed these views, yet, but for Mr. Lewin's courage and magnanimity, these views would unquestionably have been carried into execution under his administration. Even if Mr. Lewin, in his calmer moments, was still unable to shake off the impression, that a scheme fraught with such eminent danger as that of forcing Christianity upon the people of the country, was seriously entertained in the cabinet of Government House, were the natives of Madras, the persons to whom it behoved him to communicate this opinion, at a time, when he knew it was likely to do so much mischief? Upon the merits of the Tinnevelly question, we are not competent, for want of impartial information, to enter. rience at this presidency, we know that there is no species of oppression which a Hindoo will scruple to practise towards At the one whom he deems an apostate from his own creed. same time it is quite possible that there may have been faults on the other side. The countenance of powerful friends is apt to beget presumption, and may sometimes lead to aggressions, and the native Christians are not free from the weaknesses of our common nature. The judges, who decided all the cases against the Christians, may have been perfectly right, and the interference of government, though slight in itself, and exaggerated into a From our own expe crime only through the temporary irritation of men's minds, may yet have been injudicious. But this does not appear to afford the slightest justification of the inflammatory language which Mr. Lewin thought fit to adopt; and there are few who will not feel convinced that, if his judicial decisions were in any measure tinctured by those feelings which breathe through his letter, his removal from the bench, where cool, calm, rigid impartiality is the first of virtues, was not to be regretted. The public will hear without sorrow that the whole of the Sudder Court has been remodelled; that all the judges have been displaced, and others inducted in their place. A cursory perusal of Mr. Lewin's letter is sufficient to satisfy the mind, that, considering the heats and animosities which now distract the Madras community, this was the wisest course Lord Tweeddale could have pursued. — Friend of India, Nov. 19. THE CASE OF THE SECOND JUDGE OF THE SUDDER COURT OF MADRAS. 66 We give insertion to a letter which has been sent to us from Madras, signed Quondam." Our correspondent has given us his real name, and as we know that he has had access to the documents from which he quotes, the correctness of the extracts which he makes may be relied on. From these it is evident that Mr. Lewin has thrown down the gauntlet to the Madras Government, and we understand that he has not hesitated to assert that his removal is the result of a conspiracy against him, and that he has plainly told the government that he is prepared to prove this whenever called upon. We cannot but regret that Mr. Lewin should have deemed it necessary to address government in such very strong language, because it appears to us likely to prejudice his cause, which we are strongly inclined to think is in itself a good one. At the same time, we must observe, that Mr. Lewin is no petulant school-boy; when we consider that he is a servant approved by government for a period of 31 years, 15 of them spent in a judicial capacity, and that he is now provisional member of council, we cannot imagine that he would cry war to the knife with government, as he now does, without some powerful provocation. Of the spirit which led him originally to resist an order which seemed to him to be, and has to us very much the appearance of, an attack upon the independence of the court of which he was a judge, we entirely approve; and as to his removal from office owing to an altercation with Mr. Waters, the first judge, the fact of the subsequent removal of his opponent also leads us to suspect that the blame did not properly rest with Mr. Lewin. The statement made by our correspondent "Quondam," certainly discloses a very strange plan resorted to by government for getting at the real state of facts with regard to the altercation. It appears, that one of the parties concerned, Mr. Waters, made his own report of what had occurred to government, who, instead of resorting to what, as pointed out by Mr. Lewin, was the proper way of procuring an impartial detail of what really took place, viz., calling for an account from the two parties, Mr. Boileau the third judge, and Mr. Phillips, who were present when the altercation took place, they hand over to them the ex parte statement of Mr. Waters to report upon it whether it be substantially correct. Mr. Lewin, who had, it appeared, forwarded also to government his statement of what took place between himself and Mr. Waters, with great justice demanded that his statement, as well as that of his adversary, should be laid before the two witnesses, and the same question put to them concerning its contents. But government, instead of complying with this most reasonable request, appear to have passed judgment against the second judge, and afterwards ordered the inquiry which Mr. Lewin had demanded. This does look very much like acting upon a determination to get rid of a man whose independence had made him obnoxious to a certain clique. 66 Quondam" asserts, that if the government had made inquiry, it would not have been able to pass the judgment at all, as it was against the evidence taken after judgment. The fact is, we believe, on good authority, that the gentlemen to whom Mr. Lewin's statement was referred, replied to government, that it was substantially correct, though they declined to affirm, of their knowledge, one part of the statement, in which Mr. Lewin asserted that Mr. Waters had, on the occasion when the altercation took place, come with the express intention of making an attack upon him. We do not know enough of this case to offer a decided opinion as to the parties who may be to blame for the manner in which Mr. Lewin has been so unceremoniously removed from office, still less are we prepared to express our conviction of the correctness of the views which our correspondent " Quondam” takes in the two last paragraphs of his letter; but on the whole we are 66 When the altercation alluded to took place, the first judge wrote his version of it to the chief secretary, and an order of government issued, requiring the third judge, Mr. Boileau, and the register, Mr. Phillips, to report whether the statement made by Mr. Waters was substantially correct." This mode of inquiry having injustice for its object, the second judge, Mr. Lewin, addressed the following to the chief secretary on the 1st Sept. "The government have desired Mr. Boileau and Mr. Phillips to state whether Mr. Waters has given a substantially correct version of what took place; but I would appeal to the matured reflection of the government, whether there is not something unjust in putting forth in testimony against any one the substance of a relation made by an enemy, and calling upon others to speak to its general correctness, when the decision would properly rest on an impartial detail of the facts, which might have been called for from such witnesses. "I have now to request that the government will place before these gentlemen, in respect of my statement in my letter of the 24th ultimo, the same question which was placed before them in respect of the statement of Mr. Waters." Instead of complying with the request contained in the foregoing paragraph, the government seventeen days after passed judgment against the second judge; after passing judgment, they ordered the inquiry to be made, which ran completely counter to the judgment already passed. Mr. Lewin's request was made on the 1st September; there was, therefore, abundant time in the interval between the 1st and 17th. If the government had made inquiry, it would not have been able to pass the judgment at all, as it was against the evidence taken after judgment, and if they had waited till the 18th, Mr. Chamier would have reached Madras, who would have prevented such proceedings. After the judgment had been passed, the second judge wrote to the government and told them their proceedings were most disgraceful," and that he recognised in them the genius of the Cato-street gang rather than the proceedings of gentlemen serving the British Government-the government then ordered the inquiry. In the two paragraphs quoted from the letter of the second judge, there is a letter dated the 24th August, referred to-this letter had been returned to the second judge of Mr. Secretary Thompson, under date the 5th September-a copy of it was however kept, and when it was deemed that the witnesses (owing to the removal of the second judge and the removal of the third judge, also the threatened removal of the register) would not dare to speak in favour of the second judge, it was placed before them for report. In answer to the letter which the second judge wrote to government, informing them how "disgraceful" their proceedings were, the government had the effrontery, on the 20th October, to write to the second judge and say that the inquiry made after judgment was "at his request." In answer to this statement, the second judge wrote to the government and told them that their assertion was "untrue and wilfully untrue," that the government knew perfectly well that the inquiry he desired, referred to before, not to after, judgment. To the explanation which the government made to him of the retention of the copy of the letter of the 24th of August, the second judge informed them in reply, that " there can be but one opinion, the act was base, and such as a man of honour would spurn." The proceedings of the Madras Government might well engage the attention of the Supreme Government-a few more Lord Tweeddales, and the disaffection now universal would develop itself in more than words. It would be difficult for any one to declare that there is a government; intrigue abounds; slander and tale-bearing are the weapons of war; and, on the whole, a more wretched state of things I have never seen. Lord Tweeddale is a cipher, and it is perfectly clear, from the mis-statements which appear in the proceedings of the government, and which are made the foundation of serious orders, that he has about him people who not merely conceal the truth from him, but who palm off upon him manifest untruth. Yours, &c. STATISTICS OF INDIA. We heard some time ago, if we remember aright, of the form. ation of a Statistical Department at the India House, for the purpose of collecting information respecting the countries and people subject to the rule of the honourable Company. In the Madras Spectator of the 31st ult. we find, and thence extract, a despatch from the Court of Directors to "our Governor-General of India in Council" on this interesting subject. Our contemporary speaks of it as a notification by the supreme government; but if by the supreme government he means, as the term usually signifies, the chief local authority, we must say, either that he is mistaken, or that we have kept a bad look-out on the Calcutta Gazette, for we have never seen this important docu. ment therein. Why it has not been published here, for on examination, we find that it has not appeared in the Gazette,we cannot of course say; "our Governor-General in Council alone can tell. But though we derive this important document from a source so distant and unusual, we republish it with very great pleasure. The formation of a Statistical Department is a measure of such obvious utility that it must universally be hailed as one of the wisest acts of the Indian Home Government. To rule a country properly, it is essential to know it properly; and how much of alleged Indian misrule may be traced to the ignorance of those to whose hands it has been entrusted, we cannot say. It is all very well to survey a country, to have accurate maps of its surface and boundaries, to shew that here is a town, there a river, and there a chain of mountains; but after all what real knowledge of the country have we here? Just enough, perhaps, to serve for the regu lation of our general and external policy, to divide the land for purposes of police or revenue, and to determine the means for its military defence; but where is the knowledge that will serve to suggest and direct the measures necessary for the development of its various multiform resources for the benefit of the people and for the profit of the Government? It is only to be found in complete, well-arranged, and well-digested statistical information, collected from every corner of every district, and rendered easily accessible to those who have, directly or indirectly, to govern the district to which it refers. Such knowledge a well-arranged and efficiently-conducted statistical department at the India House will abundantly furnish. It will form a grand reservoir, fed by innumerable streams from all parts of India, through which information, gathered and sifted by a body of men equal if not superior in scientific and general utility to any class of similar extent in the world, will be abundantly poured into its stores. We rejoice, therefore, to find that such a statistical department has been formed, and that, as the despatch we now republish will shew, the co-operation of the several Indian governments is to be called for, and the assistance of all their servants sought for the good work which has been begun. We are very sure that every officer, civil or mili. tary, throughout the land, will be ready-nay, proud, to contribute his share to the general fund of knowledge which is thus to be laid out for the use of our rulers, and which cannot fail to redound to the benefit of India and its millions. For the guidance of those desirous of employing their opportunities in aid of the statistical department, the despatch referred to contains a list of the most prominent subjects on which information is most desirable. It will be seen that they embrace many items the insertion of which indicates a wish to know something more than what is absolutely essential for the immediate and peculiar benefit of Government. Among these we may instance, "Health and Disease"-some, perhaps, may object to the special reference to troops here-" Education and method of pursuing it" and "Charitable institutions not educational." The Directors strongly and very properly insist on the necessity of accuracy; they say truly that "erroneous information will be worse than useless, because it can but tend to mislead." We trust this will ever be borne in mind, and that every contributor to the statistical department will study the quality of his information rather than the quantity. In illustration of the necessity for correctness, the despatch cites two instances, in which what it terms "extraordinary errors" have been committed by some of their servants in estimating the population of certain districts of India. They certainly do seem to be instances of strange miscalculation, and ought to operate as a salutary warning against forming statistical estimates on insufficient data. -Hurkaru, Nov. 11. MISCELLANEOUS. THE NEW CATHEDRAL.-We have just heard from a friend that the large painted pictures for the new cathedral, which have lately arrived in a dilapidated condition, have been repaired and put up. The clock of this grand cathedral has also been put up by Mr. G. Grant.-Hurkaru, Nov. 11. GOVERNMENT SANCTION OF A SUB-ASSISTANT-SURGEON IN THE HINDOO COLLEGE.-We understand that Government has, on the recommendation of the Council of Education, sanctioned the appointment of the sub-assistant surgeon Baboo Koonjobeharry Chatterjee to the Hindoo and Sanscrit Colleges, Calcutta School Society's School, and the college Patshala under the following conditions:-If any teachers or student of any of these institutions living within the distance of one mile from the Hindoo college be taken ill, he will get the service of the doctor free of all charge, but if he lives beyond one mile, he will be required to pay only the conveyance charge of the doctor.-Ibid. Nov. 13. SOCIETY FOR THE RE-MARRIAGE OF HINDOO WIDOWS-We understand that some respectable young men at Bow-bazar, having associated themselves with some clever and liberal-minded pundits of the country, have established a club for the purpose of consulting the ways and means for the re-marriage of Hindoo widows.-Ibid. Nov. 14. THE TORMENTS OF SUPERSTITION.-A recent case which has happened in the domestic establishment of a private family, furnishes a striking example of the tormenting effect of superstition on a weak and untaught mind. The victim in the case in question is a Hindoo servant, whose horoscope was not long ago revealed to him by a brahmin astrologer, the most important prediction being that the individual would not survive his thirtieth year. The poor ignorant man will very shortly reach the time of life indicated, and placing implicit faith in the prophecy referred to, is torturing himself with the miserable anticipations of approaching dissolution. He has set his little affairs in order, and with the integrity of a dying man, settled with his creditors, and, resigning his employment, is preparing to depart to his native village, to gratify the desire of seeing his relations and friends ere he dies. The gloomy apprehension has taken so firm a hold of his mind, that the man's conviction of the truth of the prediction he will on no account allow to be shaken.-Ibid. Nov. 17. W. BENGAL BONDED WAREHOUSE ASSOCIATION. The halfyearly meeting of this association was held yesterday at the Bonded Warehouse, in order to the inspection of accounts, and the declaration of a dividend. John Allan, Esq., was called to the chair. The accounts for the past half-year having been approved and confirmed, a dividend of fourteen rupees at the rate of six and a half per cent. per annum was declared. Thompson, Esq., suggested, for the consideration of the directors, that it might be expedient for a portion of the warehouses to be insured. The cost of insurance would be about 1 per cent. In a conversation which followed, it was deemed sufficient, that half the premises be insured. It appeared in the accounts, that the sum of 5,346 rupees is the present amount of arrears existing since the foundation of the warehouse, against which there is a set-off of 3,759 rupees, leaving a net amount of 1,587 rupees unpaid. A vote of thanks having been given to the chairman, the meeting separated.—Ibid. DACCA COLLEGE.-We understand, that the annual examination of the Dacca College, for scholarships and prizes, was lately held, and was principally conducted by Messrs. Dunbar and Donelly, the Revenue and Abkary Commissioners of the Dacca division. Two of the senior students have been fined by the examiners to one hundred rupees each, for copying from each other's papers; the fine is to be commuted, if not paid, to expulsion from the college. -Ibid. MALDAH.-The cold season has set in in this district; but the late down-pour has deluged several villages, the inhabitants of which have been compelled to remove themselves, and have translated their thatched houses in other places. - Ibid. RUNGPORE.-We are glad to hear that fever, spleen, dysentery, and other concomitant complaints, which had been prevailing for some time to an alarming extent in this district, have nearly disappeared, in consequence of the approach of the cold season. -Ibid. SUGAR. We understand that the Sudder Board of Revenue have issued a circular to the Commissioners, calling for a statement of the manufacture and consumption of sugar and goor, in the several districts of Bengal. It appears that the information is required by the Government for making a special report to the home authorities on the subject. and has, no doubt, some reference to the question of the sugar duties. -Ibid. ROSOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE RE-MARRIAGE OF HINDOO WIDOws. -We understand that the society for the remarriage of Hindoo widows, had another meeting, when they came to the resolution of addressing a letter to Baboo Mutty Loll Seal, wishing to know definitely whether he would grant them the sum of fifty thousand rupees (which he promised to bestow upon any Hindoo gentleman that would marry a Hindoo widow) if they could secure a native gentleman to enter into marriage alliance with a Hindoo widow.-Ibid. Nov. 18. |