Civil, Ecclesiastical, Military,

and Medical Establishments 716 Marine Department..

Borrowing and Lending among the Natives...

Domestic Intelligence..

718 718

706

Shipping and Commercial In

Consecration of St. Paul's Ca

telligence

718

619

Despatches... 719 Miscellaneous Intelligence.... 720 ORIGINAL ARTICLES:

and Medical Establishments 710 H.M. Forces in the East...... 712 Domestic Intelligence... Shipping and Commercial Intelligence

712

713

MADRAS:

Miscellaneous Intelligence.... 713 Government General Orders..

713

Civil, Military, and Medical

Establishments.......

713

Domestic Intelligence...

714

Shipping and Commercial Intelligence

714

BOMBAY :

The ex-Rajah of Sattara.. 715 Miscellaneous Intelligence.... 715 Government General Orders.. 716

Domestic Intelligence.. Arrivals, &c. reported at the East-India House

Changes and Promotions in H.M. Regiments in India

ARRIVAL OF MAILS.

728 729

729

729

The Atalanta, with the mails, left Bombay Nov. 2, and arrived at Aden on the 10th. On the following day she left for Suez, reaching that place on the 19th and Alexandria on the 21st. Hence the mails were conveyed to Malta by the Ariel, which arrived at the last-named place on the 26th.

The Volcano took on the portion to be brought through France, reaching Marseilles on the 30th. The Tagus, with the remainder, was to leave Malta on the 27th ult. and may be expected at Southampton about the 9th instant.

The Moosuffer, with the London mail of September 24th, left Aden on the 26th October. She would reach Bombay on the 4th November.

The Haddington, with the London mail of October 25th, left Suez❘ November 10.

SCINDE is more awake. The restless border tribes (whom Sir CHARLES NAPIER put down) having again become a source of annoyance, a squadron under Lieut. MEREWETHER was deputed to watch them. A strong party of the enemy having entered the plain where that officer was posted, he proceeded in quest of them. On getting on their track, it was judged that their numbers were about 600 or 700 foot, aided by a small party of horse. Lieut. MEREWETHER'S party consisted only of about 130 men. A fortunate mistake on the part of the enemy, as to the object of a movement made by the British party, drew the former from some broken ground which they occupied, advantageously for defence, and brought them upon a more level surface, towards which they rushed with wild shouts, indicating an anticipated triumph on their part. They were soon undeceived. Lieut. MEREWETHER charged them with overpowering resolution, and they took to flight in the direction of their hills. But though broken and retreating, they shewed no panic, but, at the crossing of the Zumanee river, faced round and made a stand. This, however, fairly subjected them to a second discomfiture. Resuming their retreat towards the hills, they found their course intercepted by a part of the British horsemen, who headed and turned them back. Their numbers were now fearfully thinned, and the remnant that survived (about 120, and many of those wounded) accepted the offer of quarter which had previously been made and rejected. Five hundred and fifty dead were counted on the field; a considerable number of bodies were believed to be concealed in the bushes, and of the entire number which formed against the English force only two escaped to recount the tale of their defeat, and the death or captivity of nearly all their comrades. The loss on the side of the British was singularly small-one man killed and fifteen wounded. For further information we refer to the despatches which, as remarked in the Bombay Times, "are written with much modesty and clearness.” In another observation made in that paper all will concur, that no praise which can be bestowed can exceed the deserts of officers and men" in this affair.

British authorities in India, are thus given in the Bombay Times:

"The Governor-General has been on a visit to Nacodah, forty miles north of Simla, deeper amongst the hills. He was to return to bis former quarters on the 24th, and leave on the 26th for Umballa, whence he will proceed to Saharunpore, Meerut, and Cawnpore. He was expected to be at the latter place on the 3rd of November. He will spend twenty days at Lucknow with the King of Oudh, return. ing to Cawnpore on the 24th, and proceeding thence to Allahabad, and so by steamer to Calcutta, where he will be relieved by Lord Dalhousie about the end of the year. Lord Gough remains for the present in the hills.

"The Marquis of Tweeddale is on the eve of returning to Madras, whither his family have preceded him.

"The Governor of Bombay is at the Mahabuleshwar Hills, on the eve of returning to Bombay. He will proceed to Scinde some six weeks hence. Sir W. Cotton leaves Poona on Thursday next [4th Nov.] for Ahmednuggur, and will probably not return to the presidency till well on in December. The Lieutenant-Governor of the north-west provinces has returned to Agra."

DOONGHUR SINGH is not yet taken; a statement repeated so often that it has become somewhat stale. He is said to have concealed himself in a zenana, from which fact (or fiction, as the case may be) the editor of a Bengal paper draws the consoling conviction that the hour of the freebooter's capture is near at hand, as, according to this authority, a Rajpoot would not condescend to hide in such a place unless very hard pressed.

A violent storm visited the river and its banks, about Patna and Benares, in the early part of the month of October. It lasted several days, and hundreds of boats are reported to have been wrecked.

At CALCUTTA the rains continued to pour down, and the cold weather was anxiously watched for.

BOMBAY, like CALCUTTA, was panting for a diminished temperature; the weather during October having been unusually hot, but the season not unhealthy.

BENGAL.

BORROWING AND LENDING AMONG THE
NATIVES.

Borrowing and lending is infinitely more prevalent among the natives of India than in any other community in the world; the habits of the people, their institutions and customs, all tend to make the lower classes a mass of borrowers, while the heartlessness and cupidity of the rich, and the entire absence of any restrictions upon the rate of interest, are active agents in rendering them the purse-bearers of the poor. The legal interest which Europeans may demand is limited to 12 per cent. per annum ; but the restriction does not affect the natives, who are at liberty to demand as high a rate as the extravagance or necessities of their creditors may compel them to submit to; and not only is there no law to check their extortion, but even the national prejudices favour rather than contemn the exaction of exorbitant interest upon loans of money.

It is true that Mahomedans are prohibited by their Koran from touching the forbidden thing; but as they are generally borrowers instead of lenders, and exist but in small and decreasing numbers, they form no exception to the rule. Nine-tenths of the Hindoos, from Cape Comorin as far north as they are to be found, are in debt to their brethren; the shopkeeper for his stock-in-trade, the farmer for his seed and implements of husbandry, and the artizan for the trifling change with which he carries on the ordinary concerns of life.

The passion that prevails for display at their marriages occa. sions expenses for which the income of the people is insufficient. The money so spent is, in almost every instance, borrowed from soucars, or bankers, who levy interest, not so much in proportion to the sum advanced by them as to the penury of the borrower, or his presumed inability to liquidate the debt. The loans thus obtained are appropriated to objects the most distant from those that reason and economy would dictate: the greater part is wasted in extravagant feasting, the payment of dancers and musicians, and the lesser portion in the purchase of golden ornaments and wardrobe for the bride.

The spirit of speculation that rules the whole population, conjoined to the love of indolent occupation, is another cause of borrowing. Persons without the means to purchase a stock-in

trade, find no difficulty in obtaining loans with which to commence business. These loans are made in goods and produce, the borrower taking the fabrics, grain, metal, or drugs, from the lender, at a certain arbitrary value, and agreeing to pay interest upon the debt, and an instalment of the debt itself, every month. The agreement is so drawn up as to leave the borrower, at the end of twenty years, in no better condition than when he first set out in life; his shop or stall, as well as his stock-in-trade, belongs to another man, and although he has personal freedom, his earnings are not his own; he may at any moment of his life be imprisoned at the instance of his creditor, who never omits to punish his idleness or extravagance, by calling for an immediate settlement of his claim, and in the event of the debtor's stock falling short in value of the creditor's claim, a charge of embezzlement or fraud immediately follows the discovery.

The ryots, or cultivators, are to a man deeply involved in debt to the grain merchants of the cities; the periodical droughts that visit the country, the exactions of the Government subordinates, and the entire absence of legal protection, render the existence of this class one desperate struggle against want and starvation. The law scarcely puts a limit to the creditor's right to the debtor's property, nor does public opinion expect that the merchant will open his granaries, even when famine stalks through the streets, and the people die by hundreds at his door. In such a country, and with such a government, the rich can have no regard to their obligations as members of the community, and we accordingly find that, upon the mere whisper of approaching scarcity, the wholesale grain-dealers unite in a common bond to sell only a limited quantity of grain daily, at a certain understood price. If the drought continues, and the prospects of the harvest are no longer doubtful, the quantity is reduced day by day, and the price advanced, until the purchase of grain in the markettowns becomes impossible, excepting at stated hours, after which the shops are closed and business ceases. While the merchant is realizing an enormous profit upon the grain already stored in his vaults, he is reaping a still more abundant gain from the produce of the ripening fields; the advances of seed and money for the purchase of farming implements he is receiving in kind from the needy ryots, who have been compelled to come to him for aid; the pottahs, or grants, are in his hands, and the ryots live upon their farms in the quality of tenants,-a position little bet. ter, if at all, than predial slavery. The seed and money advanced is secured to the lender by the mortgage of the land, of which he generally has the entire management; he pays a sixth of the produce to labour, two-sixths to land-tax, and three-sixths or half he sweeps into his granary.

Money borrowed for other purposes, such as weddings, lawsuits, journeys, &c., is protected in the same way. If the borrower is a leaseholder, he gives up the land to the soucar, who manages it until the loan is returned, taking the half of the produce in the mean time as interest, and paying the expenses of tillage and the demands of the State with the other half: thus a merchant or banker lends the sum of 400 rupees to a person whose land yields upon an average 130 rupees worth of grain yearly, and takes the land as security for the repayment of the loan; he pays 20 rupees to labour, 40 rupees to assessment, and retains 60 rupees or 15 per cent. himself. If the borrower has no production security to give, he delivers up his family jewels, and upon occasions of ceremony, when his women and children appear in public, he hires his own property for the day, and when the festival is over returns the ornaments to his creditor. If the borrower has no jewels to pawn, he gives a receipt on stamped paper when it is procurable, and discharges the interest monthly as it falls due; if very needy and extravagant, two dubs in the rupee is the rate levied monthly, or 50 per cent. per annum; if reputable and prudent, half that sum is demanded, and he is held to be a fortunate person; if, however, the borrower happens to be a man of undoubted wealth, he may obtain a loan to the extent of his immediate requirements at no higher a rate of interest than 6 per cent. per annum! Thus the compensation given for the use of money depends upon the hazard which the lender runs of not receiving the money lent, or the interest as it becomes due; this tends to a mutual jealousy between the borrower and the lender, which is perfectly national throughout India, and leads to the practice of extortion by the one party and the habit of extravagance and fraud by the other.

The evils that have grown out of the system are so serious, and have reached such a wide extent, that the interference of the Legislature is imperatively called for to put an end to them. There is scarcely a family in the country, whose livelihood is acquired by tilling the ground, that has not the certainty of ultimate ruin before it under the present barbarous system, according to which a native may, if he choose, demand 100 per cent. interest from the necessitous man, at the time when he can obtain no more than six or seven from the merchant or capitalist,

and when the European cannot receive more than 12 per cent. However extraordinary this may appear, it is supported by a recent judicial decision, which has been received and adopted by the community at all the presidencies in India: thus the law, instead of having provided one uniform measure of interest throughout the country, has placed a restriction upon the gains of one section, and left the other at liberty to practise imposition ad infinitum; in short, the law has given its sanction to the oppression of the poor and needy, and a direct encouragement to prodigality-the besetting sin of the Hindoos. It is a mistake to suppose that the interest of money is regulated in India by the value of the use to the borrower, or by the general demand for it; nor is the demand for money variable, nor depending upon political, commercial, or even local circumstances. The effect of establishing a rule to govern every case would be the early abandonment by the Hindoos of their extravagant customs, and the suppression of the rash enterprises which they are daily con. cerned in. No capitalist or money-lender would advance large sums at a low rate of interest to needy people for the avowed purpose of being squandered in dancing, music, and charity to brahmins; devout people, desirous of making a pilgrimage to Juggurnauth, or of bathing in the Ganges at Benares, would be unable to raise funds for their perilous journeys.

On the other hand, the soucars and grain-dealers would gladly advance loans to the farmers upon the security of their leases or standing crops, as they would be certain of deriving as good a return for their money as they could do from others, and that, too, without any risk. The wealth of the country, which is now partly diverted from its natural channel to the encouragement of idle and vicious habits, would, by the interference of the Legislature, to the extent of limiting the rate of interest throughout India to 12 per cent. per annum, be thrown into the hands of the ryots, and while it would better their condition in a very great degree, the addition of so much capital would cause the extension of agriculture, and tend to cheapen the necessaries of life. That this would be the result of such an enactment cannot be doubted when we look to the character of the Hindoos, their customs and institutions.

The natives of India will embark in any enterprise that promises an immediate advantage, but they are loth to trust to the honour or honesty of any man. They will lend money upon land, jewels, or houses, but they can seldom be brought to advance a loan upon personal security. As rich men they are avaricious, as poor ones prodigal and extravagant. Their religious customs require that certain ceremonies should always be accompanied with the display of wealth; that pilgrimages should be made and festivals held at certain seasons of their lives, and it is held to be meritorious to afford a liberal support to their priests and temples. Were the rich prevented by restrictive laws from imposing a high rate of interest, they would cease altogether from lending money to the poor; and the latter, for want of means to commit the many extravagancies that they now do, would discontinue spending money upon pilgrimages and marriage-ceremonies. The rich would find ample employment for their capital amongst the ryots and other productive classes; and, as they would no longer venture to lend their money where much hazard existed, they would be content with the legal compensation for its use which every farmer would give them, in addition to the security of his lease. There would be little danger of any violation of the law, as the rich would scarcely venture to demand an usurious rate of interest, and risk the loss of their capital, while it could be safely embarked in a sufficiently remunerative manner without that risk. The only way in which they would evade the law would be by deducting interest from the capital at the time the loans were made, which they now do in every instance in which the poor are the borrowers. To deprive them of the power of doing this, nothing more would be requisite than making it illegal to lend or borrow money without the execution of a written contract in the presence of one or two witnesses.-Friend of India.

CONSECRATION OF ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL. As might have been expected, the solemn ceremony of consecrating the new cathedral, which took place yesterday morning, drew together an unusually large concourse of people. The morning was remarkably fine, and before nine o'clock the congregation had begun to assemble in great numbers, and at halfpast nine there was hardly a vacant seat in the sacred edifice. At a quarter before ten, the Lord Bishop of Calcutta was received at the front door of the cathedral, and the solemnities commenced according to the following prescribed form :

"The bishop, with his chaplain, is received at the door of the church by the registrar and minister, and by them conducted to the vestry-room. Having proceeded in his robes to the front of the cómmunion-table, the minister presents to him the petition for con

secration, the sanction of Government, the deed of endowment or other document, which the bishop delivers to the registrar, to be by him read aloud. The petition having been read, the bishop signifies his readiness to consecrate the church (and burial-ground) according to the prayer contained therein. Then the bishop, with his chaplain and clergy, walk from the east to the west end of the church, and back again, repeating alternately the verses of the 24th Psalm; the bishop beginning."

On the conclusion of the Psalm :

"When they come to the Lord's table, the bishop, taking his seat in a chair on the north side thereof, the deed of conveyance, or instrument of donation or sanction of Government, or other document, is presented to him by the minister; the bishop lays it on the table and standing on the north side, turns to the congregation, and says:-'

The bishop then repeated a short exhortation, which was followed by an invocation of the Divine blessing on the services of the occasion. Five short prayers were then offered up, calling on Heaven to bless those who should hereafter share in the rites and ordinances of the Church within the building, or who should meet there for the worship of God:

"Then, the bishop sitting in his chair, the sentence of consecration is to be read by the chancellor or registrar, and signed by the bishop, and by him ordered, with the petition and deeds, to be recorded and registered in his registry.

"After this, the minister officiating is to read the service for the day, except where it is otherwise directed.

"Psalms lxxxiv. cxxii. cxxxii. (The Psalms were chanted by the choir.)

"First Lesson, 1 Kings viii. 22-62.

"Second Lesson, Heb. x. 19-25."

Several short prayers, which it is not necessary to enumerate, and all of which will be found in the consecration service of the Church, were interposed with the remaining part of the morning service. The epistle was taken from the second chapter of Ephesians, the Gospel from the second chapter of John.

The text was from the Second Book of Chronicles, second chapter, 18th verse :

"But will God in very deed dwell with men on earth? Behold heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him; how much less this house which I have built?"

After the sermon a collection was made for the funds of the Additional Clergy Society, which was followed by the administration of the Sacrament to those who were devoutly inclined.Hurkaru, Oct. 9.

MISCELLANEOUS.

LOCAL.

DEPUTY MAGISTRATES.-We are glad to hear that the Supreme Government has sanctioned the grant of travelling allowance, at three rupees per diem, to deputy-magistrates placed in charge of sub-divisions. This order does not interfere with that which authorises to deputy-magistrates residing at Sudder stations, the same deputation allowance which the covenanted magistrates receive.-Hurkaru, Oct. 11.

THE REV. W. KEANE.-We understand that the most noble the Marquis of Conyngham has appointed the Rev. W. Keane, M. A. of St. Paul's Cathedral, Calcutta, to be one of his lordship's domestic chaplains.-Ibid. Oct. 14.

INDIAN WHEAT.-The Sudder Board of Revenue has issued circulars to the Commissioners of Revenue, under date the 18th September last, transmitting copy of a despatch from the Court of Directors, No. 8 of the 7th July last, and of the memorandum by Dr. Royle, on the cultivation of wheat, and requesting that they (the commissioners) will obtain from the officers subordinate to them, and submit to Government, information on the points referred to in the despatch, viz.:-1. The quantity of wheat cultivated in the districts under their charge. 2. The qualities and varieties of the grain. 3. The ordinary bazar prices. 4. The cost of conveyance to Calcutta. 5. And generally on any points which may enable an opinion being formed as to the possibility of making wheat an ordinary article of export from India to England, with reference to the usual average price prevailing in the latter country for that description of grain. The despatch authorises the Government to ship, as an experiment, a quantity of any description of wheat, not exceeding one thousand maunds, such as may appear on inquiry to meet with an advantageous sale in England. It further empowers the Government to remit the export duty now leviable here under the provisions of Act XIV. of 1836, in the event of any shipments of wheat being made by private merchants, and to discontinue levying duty on all grain exported to the United Kingdom until further notice, should there be a likelihood of a general trade arising in wheat. The memorandum by Dr. Royle, on the cultivation of wheat, is replete with interesting and valuable information on that subject. It touches on the

varieties of wheat, gives the result of its chemical analysis, and mentions it as a profitable export to England, resting in a great measure on the petition of the Agricultural Society of India to Parliament, praying for the admission of the article into the British ports on the same terms as those which have been conceded to the Canadian wheats. There are extracts in the document from the report of the committee of the Agricultural Society here, and notices of the small exports of wheat to England, both previous and subsequent to 1843, and of its cultivation in Bombay, and its unsuccessful out-turn in the Liverpool market, in consequence of its having been partially damaged. The other points of the memorandum are the cultivation of wheat in Mysore and other parts of India, the curing of it so as to ensure its receipt in England in a sound condition and free from weevil, and consideration of the qualities of its different kinds. In giving this abstract, we feel persuaded we have not been able to do justice to the memorandum, which we think is well worth the perusal of those interested in the agriculture and commerce of the country.-Ibid. Oct. 22.

EXAMINATION OF CANDIDATES FOR MOONSIFFSHIPS.-A correspondent of the Englishman states, that the examination of candidates for Moonsiffships took place at the Town Hall on the 7th instant, when there were about 150 present. He states that there were a few of them more fit for a lunatic asylum than for the judicial bench. Would he confer a further favour on the public by a second letter, stating how many of these have passed. -Friend of India, Oct. 14.

QUICK PASSAGE.-We are happy to hear, that the steamer Sir F. Currie, belonging to the India General Steam Navigation Company, reached Calcutta yesterday, in six days and six hours from Allahabad, with two flats fully laded.-Ibid.

MOFUSSIL.

AGRA.-The Bank.-Rumour has it, that Capt. William Carnegy, of the invalid establishment, is to be prosecuted by the Secretary of the Agra Bank, for libel, said to be contained in a letter, published in the Mofussilite, under the Captain's signmanual!-Benares Recorder, Oct. 5.

BENARES.-Gale on the River.-The steamer Benares arrived here, at 5 p.m., on the 1st instant, from Allahabad, and, after taking in some freight, proceeded, soon after sunset, on her way down. The following day, she passed Ghazeepore, at 1, p.m., careering on her course, in the teeth of a sharp gale from the eastward. Up to the morning of the 4th instant, the gale had blown, with more or less violence, for four days and nights, and we fear it did great damage to native craft, and caused much loss to river insurance offices. One boat, with forty packages of mess-stores for Futtehgurh on board, was swamped a little below Benares.-Recorder, Oct. 5.

The Assam.-The Benares Recorder of the 8th instant, announces that the steamer Assam, which was laid high and dry, a while ago, has at length been got afloat again. - Hurkaru, Oct. 14.

Shipping.-The General Mc Leod steamer arrived here yesterday morning from Calcutta, having been twenty-five days on the passage up, as she left Calcutta on the 17th ultimo ! We were sorry to learn that something had gone wrong with her paddle shaft, which did not work horizontally but at a slight angle to the horizon, so that one wheel was considerably deeper in the water than the other. This has been caused, we understand, by the sinking of the hull in the centre, about the engineroom; and one side having sunk a little more than the other, the paddle shaft has been forced into the position already described. The steamer Patna arrived at the ghaut at 7 o'clock this morning. She started from Calcutta on the 28th ultimo, so has gained ten days on the Mc Leod up to Benares! and we apprehend the Patna will reach Allahabad long before the other vessel.-Recorder, Oct. 12.

CHINSURAH.-Earthquake, 9th Oct. 1847.-A shock of earthquake was felt last night at 9.33 to 10. The oscillating motion commenced from N. E. to S. W. and continued 31 seconds. The shock, though of so short a duration, was rather a smart one.-Hurkaru, Oct. 11.

DUM DUM.-Theatricals.-The gentlemen amateurs, chiefly of Dum-Dum-cum Cossipore, came forward on Monday evening to support the little theatre got up there by the men of the regiment; a couple of farces, "The Haunted Inn," in two acts, and a A peculiar Position," in one act, were the pieces performed. Between the pieces there was-Ethiopian serenading we understood it was meant for-but we cannot suppose it bore any resemblance to its English or American prototype. -Hurkaru, Oct. 13.

HOOGHLY.-Cultivation of the Oak.-Mr. F. W. Russel intimates his success in raising the oak in his garden at Hoogly; he has now seventy-two seedlings of various sizes, which he has

managed to preserve, unhoused, throughout she rainy season. Colonel Ouseley also mentions that he has managed to raise the raspberry to perfection in his garden at Burkaghur, Chota Nagpore, the elevation and fine climate of which locality admits of the production of most of the European fruits.-Eastern Star, Oct. 16.

NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES.-The Thibet Mission.-Dr. Jameson, the superintendent of the Government Botanic Gardens, N. W. Provinces, communicates the gratifying intelligence that Lord Hardinge has authorised the establishment of tea plantations along the whole of the mountainous part of the N. W. frontier from the Sutlej, and the new country west of it, to the Kali. If the plant succeeds equally as well there as it has been found to do in Kemaon and the Deyrah valley, we may fairly hope, at no very distant day, to be more independent of China for this almost necessary article. The concluding portion of Dr. Jameson's letter, in reference to the movements of the Thibet mission from one of the party, we give in full:"We left Simla on the 2nd August, and (except three halts) have been marching steadily until now (September 2nd) vià Rampoor, Wantoo Bridge, Chunee, Lissa, Longnum, the Hungalun Pass to Lee, and across the Piti river to Nako Chango and Changrezing. From the last-mentioned place we tried to proceed by the direct route, up the Para river, to Haute, but as the Chinese or their representatives said no, we turned up Piti, and proceeded to Dankur, and shall cross the Parung Pass to the Chemoreree Lake. The season is getting so late that we shall

be able to do little but move now for Leh. Our marches have been very long. Near Simla we had rain; here we are grilled; the thermometer yesterday was very nearly 90° in a tent. At Dankur, in the limestone beds, ammonites, belemnites, terebratulæ, &c., were met with; and on the Chinese border fresh water shells were found in the lacustrine alluvium, an interesting fact, as proving the former existence of lakes. At Dankur breccia-looking conglomerate is said to occur in larger quantity. Its relative position is not given, but it appears to possess mineralogical characters very similar to a conglomerate met with in the salt range of the Punjaub, and on which the magnesian limestone there rests."-Eastern Star, Oct. 16.

PUBNA.-Committal of Azim Chowdry.—Azim Chowdry, who has several aliases, and is well known as a wealthy zemindar of Pubna, was committed by the magistrate of that district to the Sessions Court of Rajshahye, on a charge of having made away with a man and woman with intent to murder them. When Mr. Cheap was about to try Azim, he presented a petition to the Nizamut Adawlut, praying that his case might be adjudicated by some other functionary, and after some correspondence the Nizamut Adawlut was pleased to order Mr. Taylor, the commissioner of the 14th or Moorshedabad division, to try the accused. Azim had recourse to the legal advise and assistance of Mr. C. R. Prinsep, who had to go to Rampoor Baleah to appear on his behalf. The trial commenced in the beginning of this month and continued for several days. At last it ended in the acquittal of Azim, in consequence of the witnesses for the prosecutor having completely broken down in their evidence. The Commissioner has sent in his report, in which he is said to have expressed his suspicions as to the witnesses having been apparently purchased by Azim.-Hurkaru, Oct. 22.

GOVERNMENT GENERAL ORDERS.

H. E. LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR CHARLES NAPIER, G.C.B.

SIMLA. His Excellency, Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Napier, G.C. B., having tendered to the Right Hon. the GovernorGeneral of India his resignation of the office of governor of the province of Sinde, his lordship desires to express the regret he feels in losing the services of so distinguished and valuable an officer.

The Governor-General most cordially acknowledges the sense he entertains of the just, firm, and able manner in which his excellency has conducted the civil administration of the province entrusted to his charge. This important and difficult duty has been performed with an ability which justifies the unlimited confidence which his lordship has reposed in Sir Charles Napier, a name gloriously pre-eminent as the leader of the forces which achieved the victories of Meanee and Hyderabad.

The Lieutenant General will, after a long, brilliant, and honourable career in the public service, retire from the government of Sinde, having, in the course of his service in India, received the approbation of the government he has served,-the thanks of the British parliament, and been honoured by a distinguished mark of his sovereign's favour.

H. M. ELLIOT,

Sec. to the Government of India, with the Govr. Gen.

TROOPERS OF THE BENGAL CAVALRY.

Head- Quarters, Simla, September 27, 1847.-It being considered unnecessary that a trooper should be armed with both pistol and carbine, his excellency the right honourable the Commander-in-Chief, under instructions from the right honourable the Governor-General, directs that the pistols now in use with such troopers of the Bengal cavalry as are armed with carbines be returned into store. Officers commanding regiments will forward, on the first opportunity occurring, the surplus pistols to the magazines nearest to which their corps may be stationed.

ACTS OF INSUBORDINATION TO SUPERIOR OFFICERS.

Head-Quarters, Simla, September 29, 1847.-No. 73.-It having been brought to the notice of the right honourable the Commander-in-Chief in India, that most of the numerous acts of insubordination and violence to superiors have originated in a delusion apparently existing among the soldiery regarding transportation, his lordship has directed the republication of the "remarks" issued to the troops in June 1834, together with the 24th section of the Mutiny Act for 1847, which for the first time notifies that soldiers after arriving at the place to which they are transported, shall be imprisoned and kept to hard labour during the period their sentence remains in force.

This general order is to be read at the head of all her majesty's regiments serving in India, at two successive parades, and further to be hung up in the soldiers' library or other room of resort, for which purpose two copies will be furnished to every regiment.

Commanding officers will specially call the attention of their men to the debased condition in which a military felon is doomed to pass his days, now so clearly defined by the mutiny act as to remove all doubts on the subject and dispel any delusion that could have heretofore existed.

"Remarks by the Major-General (James Watson) in command of the Forces.-The major-general in command of the forces has perceived with pain the continuance of the dangerous delusion among some British soldiers serving under this presidency, that transportation as a felon incurs no indelible infamy, or severe labour. The remark with which the offender, whose trial is now under review, accompanied the blow, that it was intended to effect his transportation to New South Wales, a fate realised by the sentence above confirmed, and the many recent instances of violence towards superior officers, with or without a murderous intent, must necessarily obtain from the major-general an unmitigated enforcement of the sentence of transportation, however lamentably ignorant be the convict of the rigorous and debased condition to which he is condemned.

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"Still more painful will it be in cases where a court martial has pronounced the sentence of the law, that he who strikes, or offers violence to his superior officer in the execution of his office, shall suffer death,' if the major-general be compelled

to

repress the exercise of mercy in commuting death to transportation, and be reduced to the necessity hereafter of executing the fatal sentence, whether pronounced against the reckless stab of the ferocious drunkard, or the measured violence of the cool, calculating villain, who declares he aims at transportation.

"The major-general conceives he cannot more forcibly expose the lamentable delusion regarding transportation than by repub. lishing the following remarks by the Earl of Dalhousie, late Commander-in-Chief in India.

Dalhousie).

"Head-Quarters, Calcutta, May 24, 1830. "Remarks on the Trial of Private William Manning, of H. M. 16th Lancers.- The prisoner William Manning declares, that he did not intend to murder the serjeant, but only to do that which would be sufficient to send him to New South Wales. The court martial have thought otherwise, and sentenced him to an ignominious death.

"The commander-in-chief has remitted the capital punishment; the prisoner, according to his declared object, will be transported to New South Wales, where, in the debased and wretched condition in which he is doomed to pass the remainder of his days, he will reflect on the honourable character of a British soldier, which he has voluntarily lost he will then deplore the miserable delusion prevalent among the European soldiers of this army, that transportation to New South Wales opens a new life with immediate comfort and eventual emancipation.

:

"In the early period of that colony, convicts transported for crimes without violence, and noted for subsequent good conduct, may have been allowed to work separately from the common gang of convicts, and employed in less severe labour; but the most ignorant soldier cannot believe that a man dismissed from

the army, which he has disgraced, and stamped with the character of an attempted murderer, is ever let loose from the chains in which the felon drags on his miserable life, or can escape from the abhorrence with which mankind regard the cowardly wretch, who lifts the weapon, entrusted to him for the protection of his king and country, against his officer or comrade, or other confiding or defenceless person.'

Twenty-fourth Section of the Mutiny Act for 1817.-" 24. And be it enacted, that whenever any sentence of transportation heretofore or hereafter passed upon any offender by any courtmartial holden in the East Indies, or in any part of Her Majesty's foreign dominions, is to be carried into execution for the term specified in such sentence, or for any shorter term, or when sentence of death has been or shall as aforesaid be commuted to transportation, the same shall be notified by the officer com. manding her Majesty's forces at the presidency or station, or in his absence by the adjutant-general for the time being, to some judge of one of the supreme courts of judicature in the East Indies, or chief justice, or some other judge, as the case may be, in any part of her Majesty's foreign dominions, who shall make order for the transportation or immediate custody of such offender, in like manner as for the transportation or intermediate custody of any other convict;-and upon any such order being made it shall be duly notified to the governor of the presidency if in the East Indies, or to the governor of the colony if in any of her Majesty's colonies, or to the person who shall for the time being be exercising the office of governor of such presidency or colony, who, on receipt of such notification, shall cause such offender to be removed to some colony or place in obedience to the directions for the removal of convicts, which shall from time to time be transmitted from her Majesty, through one of her principal secretaries of state to such presidency or colony; and. such offender on being so removed shall undergo the sentence of transportation which has been passed upon him in the colony or place to which he has been so removed or sent, and whilst such sentence shall remain in force shall be liable to be there imprisoned and kept to hard labour, and otherwise dealt with under such sentence in the same manner as if he had been sentenced to be imprisoned with hard labour, during the term of his transpor tation, by the judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction in the colony or place to which he has been so removed or sent."

COURT MARTIAL.

LIEUT. WILLIAM GEORGE SPILLER, 1. M. 53RD REGT. Head Quarters, Simla, Sept. 27, 1847.—At a General Court Martial, assembled at Ferozepore, on Friday, Sept. 10, 1847, Lieut. W. G. Spiller, H. M. 53rd regt. was arraigned on the following charge, viz.

For highly unbecoming conduct, to the prejudice of good order and military discipline, in the following instances:

1st. In having, at Umballa and at Ferozepore, and in camp on the march of the regiment towards the latter station, between Oct. 1, 1846, and July 14, 1847, borrowed various sums of money, in sums of two rupees and upwards, of several non commissioned officers of H. M.'s 53rd reg., he having become indebted in this way in the following sums, or thereabouts, viz to Serj.-maj. Felstead, Rs. 36-15-0; to Drum-maj. Pusey, Rs. 95-00; to Canteen-serj. Stevenson, Rs. 56-2-0; no part of which sums have been repaid.

2nd. In having, at Ferozepore, on or about May 27, 1847, attempted to borrow two rupces of Serj. Godwin, orderly-room clerk, which accommodation was refused by Serj. Godwin.

3rd. In having, at Ferozepore, on April 6th, 1847, given to Serj-.maj. Felstead an order on the paymaster for Rs. 30-0 0, for articles purchased by him, Lieut. Spiller, at auction, he well knowing that he had no assets in the paymaster's hands to meet such order, which was dishonoured, the amount still remaining due to the serjeant-major.

4th. In having, on or about February 12th, 1847, purchased a pony from armourer Serj. Moulds, for Rs. 30, and become indebted to him for iron work done at different periods in the amount of Rs 22-10-0, which sums are still unpaid to Serj. Moulds.

Finding. The Court, upon the evidence before it, is of opinion, that the prisoner, Lieut. W. G: Spiller, H. M. 53rd regt, is

On the first instance of the charge, guilty, with the exception of the words "in this way," the court being of opinion that only Rs. 10 were borrowed of Sergeant Major Felstead, and Rs 32 of Canteen Sergeant Stevenson, the balance of the debts to these two individuals being otherwise incurred.

On the second instance of the charge, guilty.

On the third instance of the charge, not guilty, and do therefore acquit him thereof.

On the fourth instance of the charge, guilty.

PER