ENGLAND.

Lyttelton Times, 26 August 1858, Page 1

ENGLAND.

The s.s*.Queen which arrived here yesterday morning from Melbourne via Wellington brought .the May mail, and English supplementary intelligence to the 25tb, from the India mail by Galle. Our dates are Madras, June 10, and acknowledgements in the Melbourne papers,—Calcutta, June 3; Bombay, June 12; China, June 7.—Hawke's Bay, August 14, which gives Auckland news to the 31st ult. The delay in the arrival of the Victoria (says the Argus), may. be attributed, it seems, solely to the inefficiency of her machinery, and her general want of power to grapple with such a voyage. We have received statements of the most unfavorable character with reference to the Victoria's passage to Suez—statements that apply to everything about her, and to everyone connected with her. She was stopped, it is said, upwards of thirty times, for the repair of her machinery, whilst the annoyance occasioned by these perpetual hindrances was aggravated by incivility, by bad provisions, by a failure to maintain the necessary discipline of the ship, and by almost every circumstance that can add to the discomfort of a sea voyage. The natural result was a feeling of deep resentment on the part of the passengers, by whom a series of resolutions on the subject, and more generally on the whole question of mail communication by the present system, had been prepared. India monopolizes the chief attention of parties at home, aiid Ministers have had a narrow escape from a severe parliamentary defeat. The publication of a despatch issued by Lord Ellenborough through the medium of the Secret'Committee of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, was the cause of the imbroglio. The despatch reflected upon a proclamation by Lord Canning, addressed to the Oude insurgents, in which his lordship announced the intention of the Indian Government to confiscate the estates of the native landowners, as the penalty of their rebellion. Resolutions conveying a want of. confidence in the ministry were moved by the Earl of Shaftesbury in the Lords, and by Mr. Card well inthe Commons. In the Upper House the ministry obtained a majority of nine; and although the general expectation. at the commencement of the debate in the House of Commons was, that the Cabinet would be defeated/the timely production of some correspondence between Lord Canning and Sir James Outram, in which explanations were given of the policy of the former towards the Oude insurgents, caused such a reaction in favor of the Government, that Mr. Cardwell was induced to withdraw his motion. Lord Ellenborough had previously resigned his seat in the Cabinet. Thegovernment is now considered safe until Eebru - ary. The new Oaths Bill having been amended in the Lords to an extent that would make it quite ineffective for the purpose proposed by it, a Select Committee of the Commons was appointed to draw up a statement of the reasons why the House objected to the Lords' amendment; Baron Rothschild, significantly enough, is on the Committee. Sir Colin Campbell was to be raised to the peerage. He has already been promoted to the rank of general in the army. The obituary includes the Duchess of Orleans and Mr. John O'Connell. Covent Garden Theatre was opened on the 15th of May with "Les Huguenots," Grisi, Mario, and Formes, respectively appearing as Valentine, Ruoul, and Marcel. The house was crowded to the ceiling. The principal news of importance from India is the taking of the town of Calpee by storm on the 23rd of May, the defeat of the Rohilcund insurgents by the Commander-in-Chief at Shahjehanpore, and the capture of Gwalior by a rebel army, either commanded by or under the direct influence of Nana Saheb. The news generally is by no means satisfactory. The enemy were regaining many towns and fortresses from which they had been driven. They retreated wherever the British forces showed themselves, but rallied immediately the military power was withdrawn. The policy of Lord Canning had failed to consolidate a feeling of public confidence in the wisdom or effectiveness of his administration. . The rumours that reached us by the Alice Maude, of the pacification of China, prove to have been unfounded. The progress of negociations was slow and unsatisfactory, and fresh collisions between the natives and English forces are narrated. Lord Elgin, with the British fleet, has arrived £>t the mouth of the river Peiho, about 110 miles from the Chinese capital; and the belief was, that in the event of the emperor's reply to the representatives of the British envoys being unfavourable, his Excel-

lency would at once declare war, and advance upon Pekin.

The Mail Service.—The London correspondent of the ' Argus' says—You will be concerned to learn that there is a great probability that the contract for the Australian steam service will be abandoned, the losses incurred by the company which first obtained the privilege having proved very serious; while the shareholders of the Royal Mail Company, at. a recent meeting, have resolved not to proceed with so unprofitable an adventure. In this position of affairs, the mercantile community here are trembling lest any lapse of facilities should ensue from a derangement of the service. It has not transpired at present what steps are likely to be taken in this awkward emergency by the European and Australian Mail Company. GOVERNMENT CEXSOKE ON LORD CANNING. The following is the despatch containing the censure of the Government on Lord Canning for his Oude proclamation. It 'will be seen that five paragraphs are omitted. The despatch bears date April 19, and has been sent through the secret committee to the Governor-General. " Our letter of the 24th of March, 1858, will have put you in possession of our general views with respect to the treatment of the people in the event of the evacuation of Lucknow by the enemy. "2. On the 12th instant we received from you a copy of the letter dated the 3rd March, addressed by your. Secretary to the Secretary tothe Chief Commis.sioner in Oude, whicli letter enclosed a copy of the Proclamation to be issued by the Chief Commissioner as soon as the British troops should have command of the city of Lucknow, and conveyed instructions as to the manner in which he was to act with respect to different classes of persons, in execution of the views of the Governor-General. I "3. The people of Oude will see only the | Proclamation. "4. That authoritative expression of the will ofthe Government informs the people that six persons, who are named as having been steadfast in their allegiance, are henceforward tlie sole hereditary proprietors of the lands they held when Oude came under British rule, subject only to such moderate assessment as may be imposed upon them; that others in whose favor like claims may be established will have conferred upon them a proportionate measure of reward and honor; and that with these exceptions the proprietary right in the soil of the province is confiscated to the British Government.

" 5. We cannot but express to you our appre_ hension that this decree, pronouncing the dis_ persion of a'people, will throw difficulties almos insurmountable in the way of the re-establish ment of peace. "6. We are under the impression^that the war in Oude has derived much of its popular character from the rigorous manner in which, without regard to what the chief landholders had become accustomed to consider as_|_their rights, the summary settlement had, in a large portion ofthe province, been carried out by your officers.

"7. The landholders of India are as much attached to the soil-occupied by their ancestors, and are as sensitive -with respect to the rights in the soil they deem themselves to possess, as the occupiers of land in any country of which we have a knowledge.

" 8. Whatever may be your ultimate and undisclosed intentions, your Proclamation will appear to deprive the great body of the people of all hope upon the subject most dear to them as individuals, while the substitution of our rule for that of their native Sovereign has naturally excited against us whatever they may have of natural feeling. . "

" 14. We must admit that, under these circumstances, the hostilities which have been carried on in Oude have rather the character of legitimate war than that of rebellion, and that the people of Oude should rather be regarded with indulgent consideration than made the objects of a penalty exceeding in extent and in severity, almost any which has been recorded in history as inflicted upon a subdued nation. " 15. Other conquerors, when they have succeeded in overcoming resistance, have excepted a few persons as still deserving of punishment, but have, with a generous policy, extended their clemency to the great body of the people. . Y "16. You have acted upon a different principle. You have reserved a few as deserving of special favour, and you have struck with what they will feel as the severest of punishnlent the mass of the inhabit ants of the country.

" 17. We cannot but think that the precedents from which you have departed will appear to have been conceived in a spirit of wisdom superior to that which appears in the precedent you have made. "IS. We desire that you Avill mitigate in practice the stringent severity of the decree of confiscation you have issued against the landholders of Oude.

"12. We desire to see British authority in India rest upon the willing obedience of a contented people ; there cannot be contentment where there is a general confiscation. " 20. Government cannot long be maintained by any force in a conutry where the whole people is rendered hostile by a sense of wrong ; and if it were possible so to maintain it. it would not be a consummation to be desired."