NEWS OF TILE WEEK.

:AfiricorOn rid definifivo*pitt of combats, retreats, or :Military. achievements in India, we have intelligence. not less' in- teresting or stirring. The Queen's.Proclamation announcing that .she takes the Government of the Indian Empire into her own lands has been circulated throughout Itiudostau, and is, no doubt, by this time known in every quarter of those territories. Lord Clyde has; in the mean time, proclaimed to' the people of Oude Olathe incoming On to enforce the law, with destruction to those who resist, protection to- those, who submit. The -Royal Proclamation announe.es the transfer of he Government interms of great directness and simplicity. reappoints Lord Canning

to " the First IricgroY and. Governcir-General in and over Her

said territories"; also confirming all officers, civil and Military, who have hitherto held service under the East India Company ; renewing all treaties and engagements with native Princes, and :promising to the natives Of every rank respect for their rights, their u:oges, and their religion. The customs touching the in- heritance of land are specially mentioned as meriting the pro- tection of the Crown, and the Proclamation renews, with reitera- tion of some part, Lord Canning's Amnesty Proclamation.

InRombay, the issning of this proclamation was the scene for an illumination, which appears to have been really more general than any similar act of rejoicing. The citizens of Bombay and the members of the Bombay Association had specially presented their congratulations to the Queen on her assumption of the direct government. Both these addresses are simple in their terms, and they emanate from men whose names we recognize as substantial and influential.

One of the most deeply interesting communications, however, is 'altogether retrospective. It is summary of a narrative given by a Mr. Birchett, who is said to be a survivor of the Cawnpore massacre. Great doubts have been thrown upon that event. It would be remembered that some of the worst incidents, the in- dignities offered to women, are said to have occurred in public ; Mr. Birchett's narrative does not confirm this portion of the old statement, though it does not absolutely contradict it. But it does confirm the old stou of the way in which the women were slant into a room, put To...death by order of Nana Sahib, and then thrown into the well. The narrative lends great proba- bility to a prevalent supposition, that a young lady, the daughter of an officer, survives, and it is conjectured that she is now in captivity with Tantia Topee. We have yet more to learn of the revolt and its personal romance.

Rumours have been rife that there is about to be a war be- tween France and Austria apropos of the encroachments of the Teutonic Government upon Italy. This may be as untrue as the Marseilles rumour of the British reconcilement with Naples. Bat, prima facie, a contest between France and Austria would be extremely probable. France has increased her force at Rome, though perhaps not proportionately to the continued increase of Austrian forces on the Piechnontese boundary ; but there has not been ostensibly any change of circumstances since France took up her position in Italy. Indeed the French Government seems to think it necessary that it should disclaim any hostility towards Austria. The Moniteur, on the part of the Emperor's Govern- ment, has officially placed public ofinion on its guard against a

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,cliscusSion "ttiliell is to 1.,d.,•,c0ettyti-fiji having(ernined aja un- eaainess which bur relations -with foreign .Powers, clainOt h any degree j ustifv M. de I !Ulmer lies called' for an 011lei al, dis- clofmer' of file language in the French papers ; 'while the jeur- amksmt Niconti, pill under the .eontrol 'of a censorship, are free to tistailtheir'contimporaries in Paris Inc " the ttnex.aniplei shame- leSiness'ivith wliith. then- attook Austria at the minnent'Whqii_the llontalembert .drama is taking place in Paris." According4o, the 1.IeradOeGiraette, Austria at present is "the chaniPi'on .TOedei in Italy "; she only "shares her influence in. this peninsula with btlierposVers," and she has "no lust of conquest." .!..)aeverthe- ' less the expect *con of wax in Italy continues to increase. Many

the Count de Montalembert is to proceed; and it is perceived that, whether bY his own free will, or the Mismanagement of his sub- ordinates, the Emperor has been drawn into a dilemma. Should 'the appeal Of titerount de Montalembert succeed, what becomes of the Emperor's clemency,—reduced to the position of mere surplusage I' Should the appehl fail, how can the Emperor en- force the sentence; although tile Count has rejected his clemency ? Either way the Emperor has spoiled his own position ; he can neither recover influence by the ostentation of mercy, nor con- firm authority by the enforcement of the law. If, under these circumstances, he encumbers himself with foreign disputes it

must be because-it has become necessary for him to employ- ment.for a.restless and tronblesome army.

Mr. MIR' stone has appeared before the Ionian Senate, and has made an excellent beginning of Isis mission by a concise and clear address dtlivered in Italian. The substantive existence of the Ionian State, he said, its constitutional government, and the British Protectorate, arc derived from a source higher than the will of any single state. The Queen had sent him, therefore, not to inquire into the Protectorate, but " to ascertain in what way Great Britain might most honourably and amply discharge her obligation" : and. lie clinched, the effect which hii speect was calculated to produce by intimating "the affectionate wishes for the welfare of the islands .which he had been permitted to hear uttered personally by her Majesty." The Extraordinary Commissioner had been well 'received. It is not probable that his inquiries will have the effect of abolishing Ionian aspirations for annexation with Greece, but for present purposes he may draw forth some middle term, which, for a time at least, would render British administration more advantageous to the islands and more creditable to our own country.

The Queen Isabella has opened the Cortes with a long speech reviewing Spanish affairs and the "reforms" effected during her reign—all in rose-colour. The real import and value of these beatific representations arc shown by two passages. One is in the speech itself, boasting of the special "benevolence" of the Sovereign Pontiff which still hangs as an encumbrance on Spanish administration. The other is conveyed in the words of a recent telegraph, dated on the 8th,—" Marshal O'Donnell declared, yesterday that the Government has resolved to" preserve the con- stitutional system." So firm is the constitution in Spain, that it haw on the word of a Minister ; and so loyal are the people, that the state of siege has been removed without any actual dis- turbance!

While Lord Palmerston is pleasantly discoursing on bucolics at Romsey, the Reformers generally, who are taking an active part, appear disposed to waive their extreme or special views in order to agree upon the most general terms. Thus the Birmingham Re- form Association has adopted a programme but slightly differing from that of the Times—" a large extension of the franchise, more equal distribution of electoral districts, and the ballot. The Titnes left the ballot an open question ; Birmingham, agree- ing probably with the majority of the country, makes it an essen-

1310-1312 circumstances ik Lombardy have contributed to aggravate! the ferment, :partictilarly the appointment of an exceedinglfouu popular police-agent to be censor of the press.

; Meanwhile the :French.. Emperor has perplexity enough. at h e It '• t b settled I - :Of ore . now appears o se e t nit the up' tial. The Birmingham men also inoladeein'their)prograrimie, a nntabat Of **or- nseskogresitr bet these are the heado,of their Reform Bill. In,:espeatting to'liis Canstitutints at Ash4otteunder- Lyne; MT. Milner Gibtowindieatedd'nesily: the sato% programnie. He Wou14 not be deterred froni accepting a moderate measure be- cause it did net come up to eertein theories, The representatives of the Northern Reform Union have drawn. a more emphatic de- claration from the people of Ifaiiick, assembled in such numbers that they were obliged to ,diStribute ,AlreinaelveS int9:4O;buil-,d- ingse Ballot, and manhood suffrage were the salient pints of those sturdy. peeple, whom Cure& Bell portrayed in llneanients• BO strongly charged. Similar plaints are advanced at -Weston and elsewhere. In his letter to the- Manchester lativerstd Suffrage Association, however, Mr. Bright insists 'tlitit neither the fran- chise of the Association nor his own ratepaying franchise, is the essential of the hew 1t11 / the, :distributkm of Beats its the point that Is t9 be watched ; hat 'he holds it 'well that Fibers& should be prepared, by agreement amongst tb.emselves to disoiSi the Go-

Yernment plan. '

Meanwhile X. Lowe at Kidderminster, and Lord Campbell at• Fishmongers' Hall have been speaking ot the Atinilterha: B ill,—that bill which Sotherort Esteourt appears to have seen but will not &Scribe. Mr. Lowe 'was full of eloquence about " subversive'" measures,, but his .audiegee did not applaud. Lord Campbell promised for the Fishmongers, as true Whigs, that if the opponent bill shoul& go too far, they would be con- servative.

The Low Courts of P.siglancl and Irelandellue.renewed this week sonic of the inost startling and painful illustrations of our commercial anomalies that 'we hare yet 'had. Mr. Chapman's examination in the ease of Davidson and Gordon is as deeply in- teresting as any part of Mr. Seton Laing's panaphlet. The dis- pute between Mr. Vineent Scully and Mr. Herbert Ingrain before the Court of Queen's Bench, whatever may be the issue, is a very pretty quarrel as it stands ; and the deliverance of Judge Long- field on the case of John Sadleir is especially instructive. The _report of Mr. Chapman's esamination fills three columns of the Times. It consisted of three-piled explanations of apparent in- consistencies in his statements, especially regarding two eonver- .eations with Gordon, on the 13th and 17th of October 1853; the aim of the Counsel in the Bankruptcy Court being to ascer- tain how far Mr. Chapman had recognised the fraudulent charac- ter of Gordon's transactions before certain further money trans- actions between the two. Mr. Joseph Windle Cole was also examined, with further disclosures as to the validity of warrants ; which, it appears on legal authority, do not represent goods at any particular wharf, so that warrants may pass current in the market and the goods may go on their travels without reference to the paper' money being obtained on both. At least such was the view taken by counsel whom Mr. Cole's Mr. Maltby con- sulted.

In the Queen's Bench case Mr. Scully claimed damages for misrepresentations made by Mr. Ingram in reference to the pur- chase of an estate in Ireland ; the cogent evidence in the case being, however, embodied in letters from the too notorious John Sadleir himself. He said, for example, "Mr. Ingram is the pur- chaser of Hyde Castle—to resell. He understands our game, and agrees to say or do as I tell him." Everything of the kind Mr. Ingram denied. It was but Sadleir's evidence, and, to judge by the verdict, the Jury seemed to have found it very light in the scale, Judge Longfield's judgment was a masterly sketch of John Sadleir and his transactions with the Tipperary Bank and the London and County Bank, and of the obsequiousness with which directors allowed Sadleir to carry off money. On the whole, however, be adjudged that no proven notice had been given of "the equitable agreement of March 1855," between John Sad- leir and the directors of the Tipperary Bank ; the result being that the London Bank is not compelled to surrender its securi- ties for complicity with Sadleir.

The eases just mentioned are the memento of the past, there- duction of the rate of discount at the Bank of England to n per cent is the prognostic of the future. The policy of unbroken re- serve had been maintained for some time after a sudden recovery from depression might have led to new excesses. The drain from Germany has diminished if not ceased. The public has gradually resumed investments ; and hence, in addition to the usual demand for accommodation at this season, there has been a steady increase in the use of money. The rate of discount in the market has gone up. It is under these circumstances that, in approximating its own rate to that of the market, the Bank removes its moral restraint from investments, and opens a new period of commercial activity.