3 DECEMBER 1842, Page 5

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The following important document appeared in London on Monday morning-

" PROCLAMATION.

Secret Department, Simla, lit October 1842.

" The Government of India directed its army to pass the Indus in order to expel from Afghanistan a Chief believed to be hostile to British interests, and to replace upon his throne a Sovereign represented to he friendly to those in- terests, and popular with his former subjects. "The Chief believed to be hostile became a prisoner, and the Sovereign re- presented to be popular was replaced upon his throne; but, after events which brought into question his fidelity to the Government by which be was restored, he lost by the hands of an assassin the throne he had only held amidst insurrec- tions, and his death was preceded and followed by still existing anarchy. "Disasters unparalleled in their extent, unless by the errors in whieh they originated, and by the treachery by which they were completed, have in one short campaign been avenged upon every scene of past misfortune ; and repeated victories in the field, and the capture of the cities and citadels of Ghuznee and Cabul, have again attached the opinion of invincibility to the British arms.

"The British army in possession of Afghanistan will now be withdrawn to the Sutlej.

" The Governor-General will leave it to the Afghans themselves to create a Government amidst the anarchy which is the consequence of their crimes. "To force a Sovereign upon a reluctant people, would he as inconsistent with the policy as it is with the principles of the British Government ; tending to piece the arms and resources of that people at the disposal of the first invader, and to impose the burden of supporting a Sovereign without the prospect of benefit from his alliance. "Time Governor-General will willingly recognize any Government approved by the Afghans themselves, which shall appear desirous and capable of main- taining friendly relations with neighbouring states. "Content with the limits nature appears to have assigned to its empire, the Government of India will devote all its efforts to the establishment and main- tenance of general peace, to the protection of the Sovereigns and Chiefs its allies, and to the prosperity and happiness of its own faithful subjects. " The rivers of the Punjab and the Indus, and the mountainous passes and the barbarous tribes of Afghanistan, will be placedlbetween the British army and an enemy approaching from the West—if, indeed, such an enemy there can be—and no longer between the army and its supplies. "The enormous expenditure required for the support of a large force in .a false military position, at a distance from its own frontier and its resources, will no longer arrest every measure for the improvement of the country and of the people. "Time combined army of England and of India, superior in equipment, in discipline, in valour, and in the officers by whom it is commanded, to any force which can be opposed to it in Asia, will stand in unassailable strength upon its own soil, and for ever, under the blessing of Providence, preserve the glorious empire it has won, in security and in honour. "The Governor-General cannot fear the misconstruction of his motives in

thus frankly announcing to surrounding Mates the pacific and conservative policy of his Government. "Afghanistan and China have seen at once the forces at his disposal and the effect with which they can be applied. "Sincerely attached to peace for the sake of the benefits it confers upon the people, the Governor-General is resolved that peace shall be observed, and will put forth the whole power of the British Government to coerce the state by which it shall be infringed. " By order of the Right Honourable the Governor-General of India, "T. B. MADDOCK, "Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General."

We have reason to believe that Lieutenant-General Sir Hugh Gough, G.C.B., with the greater part of the troops at present employed in China, will forthwith return to India ; and that the command-in-chief will be intrusted to Major-General Lord Saltoun, G.C.H., C.B., at least until the payment of the twenty-one millions of dollars stipulated in the late treaty. The force under his Lordship's orders will consist of a brigade at Chusan, a small garrison at Amoy, and two battalions (British) with artillery at Hong-kong, where it is expected that the head-quarters will be esta- blished.—Morning Post, Dec. 2.

A letter from the British fleet off Nankin, printed in the Gateshead Observer, and another by Mr. Gutzlaff to the Secretary of the Glasgow East India Association, give the following as the disposal of the twenty- one millions of dollars exacted from the Chinese : "six millions for the opium ; three millions for the Hong merchants' debts ; and twelve mil- lions for the expenses of the war."

The Marseilles Sod of the 22d November pretends to know from an undoubted source, that in the treaty with the Chinese Government it has been stipulated that the cities and ports of the interior of China should be open to all the European Powers ; who are to have the right of being represented by the Consuls of their nation. The United Service Gazette says that a reduction of the Army is to be made, particularly of the recently increased establishment of In- fantry corps ; with a further reduction should the treaty of Nankin be observed and the Afghan affair be brought to a close.

On Monday afternoon, five brass cannon, captured by the British during the Chinese war, happily just terminated, arrived in a barge from the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, and were landed on the Tower- wharf. Four of the guns are of large calibre, one of them being a 68-pounder, and the bore about twenty inches. All of them are splendid specimens of workmanship, and do not appear to have seen much service."—Morniao Chronicle.

The City article of Monday's Times has confident reports of the general impulse given to trade by the news from China-

" It is remarked by men of business, whose practical knowledge of the move- ments of trade entitle them to credit, that a sensible change has already taken place in the appearance of mercantile affairs. The revived activity of the cotton- markets, both here here and at Liverpool, strengthens the assertion ; while the increase that has occurred in the value of the staple, to the extent, on the average, of about ad. to bd. per pound, with the more cheering accounts re- ceived from the chief of the towns of Lancashire and the North of England, is also a test of the stimulus likely to be given to our manufacturing industry now peace is concluded with China. Simultaneous with the improvement no- ticed in cotton, the leading drysaltery articles used in manufactures have also advanced; and the Prices Current show a considerable profit in purchases made within the last week or so. But it is not only in this description of mer- chandise that activity is reported, but also in others of general consumption, which having of late ruled at low prices in consequence of the great depres- sion of trade, are recovering a position by the better spirit evident in the com- mercial circles, and the increased desire of the merchants to do business. Hardly sufficient. time has yet elapsed to allow of the more favourable state of things influencing the money-market ; and hence the discount-brokers still complain of the large amount of cash they have at their disposal unemployed. When, however, the full force of enterprise is encouraged by the extended, operations of the merchant and shipowner, it is to sure to be followed by an absorption of capital, which will of course have the effect of raising its rate to borrowers. Among the shipping interest it is stated, that vessels are being taken up for the new trade to be opened with the several Chinese ports; and this, to a certain extent, is borne out by the public announcements, which indicate that parties are already in the field to monopolize, if possible, the chances of lucrative enrolments. Under all circumstances, the mercantile classes are regarding aith much interest the reaction noticeable in the con- dition of trade, which, till within the last week, promised nothing very satis- factory. No wonder, therefore, can be expressed at the sanguine expectations caused by the bustle now apparent on the chief business-walks." The Glasgow Argus of Monday makes the following report on the symptoms of revival in the Glasgow district- . • • e S • * * " Since Thursday, the amount of business done in Glasgow in manufactured goods has been very great, with a proportionate ad- vance in price. In the coarser yarns, suited to the Chinese market, what are called forties and under, an advance of from id. to id. per pound has taken place, and we believe that the latter price has in some instances been refused. In numbers ranging from fifty to sixty, there is an advance of about 2i per cent; but in the finer numbers, from eighty upwards, no improvement can he said to have taken place. On the lower class of power-loom goods generally there has been a rise of about five per cent. Spinners are fully employed ; and there ie a general feeling that the price of yarns will advance, as the stocks on hand are very light. The improvement, as may be supposed, has extended also so the shipping interest, which, like other branches, has long been touch de- pressed. We have been informed, on respectable authority, that an advance of at least 2/. a ton has taken place on first-class ships. The opening of our trade to China will operate favourably for the employment of our mercantile marine. Already two vessels, the Duke of Wellington and the James Camp- bell, are advertised to sail direct to our new possession of Hong-kong ; and in proportion as the trade increases, the number will, of course, be multiplied."

The triumph in China has caused one of the hottest of newspaper controversies, it being claimed by the press of both "the great parties in the State." The Conservatives impute it to the energy of the Tories; at which the Whip are shocked, since, they say, the Tories had done nothing in the matter. Thereupon the Times publishes a long list of ships sent out by the new Ministers with reinforcements. The Chro- nicle thinks that they were not all sent out by the new Ministers : one of them, "for instance," was sent out so soon after the present Minis- ters came into power that it must have been despatched by the present Board " before they had well settled into their places." The Globe roundly declares that the far greater portion of the ships were on their way to China before the late Government was displaced. The Times rejoins, that the orders for sending out every one of them are in the handwriting of a member of the present Board of Admiralty. Moreover, in June 1841, the Whigs asked a vote of no more than, 400,0001, for the whole year, on account of the Chinese war ; indicating no intention of making any great effort: in September the Conserva- tives obtained 800.000/. more. The Whigs, however, remember that their party appointed the successful commanders; the Tories, that Lord Ellenborough recommended the occupation of the Yang-tse-Kiang at its crossiug the Grand Canal ; the Whigs, that the commanders had already determined on that stroke before they had received Lord El- lenborough's suggestion. Here, were we vainglorious, we might put in our own claim for some priority in that suggestion. But in truth, we are quite willing to leave the commanders the whole merit of their successes, dearly bought by toil, and risk, and loss of life and health, on the spot. It were hard if the victors' laurels could be torn piece- meal and divided among us stay-at-home journalists and the bureau- crats who encroach upon our province.

A lithographed address has been sent to us, by "A British Mer- chant," " to the People of England, and more particularly to the Inha- bitants of Liverpool," recommending that, as a tribute to God in re- turn for the triumphs vouchsafed in China, the opium-trade should be stopped, by prohibiting the production of the drug in India ; and that meetings to petition for the measure should be held throughout the country. Besides the appeal to the people on Christian grounds, the British Merchant points out, that the capital employed in raising the plant might be better invested in producing cotton, indigo, and other commodities useful to the manufacturers of this country ; and that the five or six millions sterling paid for opium by the Chinese would be expended in the purchase of British cottor, woollen, and other manu- factures; giving employment to our thousands of starving artisans and to vast numbers of our ships now lying idle, and removing a source of disastrous interruption to our future intercourse with China.

It is now generally supposed that the Legislature will not assemble for the despatch of business until the usual period, viz, the first week in February ; but nothing certain can be known on the subject until the next Privy Council.—Standard, Dec. 1.

The London Gazettes of the week announce several new honours and appointments—

The Queen has been graciously pleased to nominate and appoint Vice-Ad- miral Sir William Parker, Knight Commander of the most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, to be a Knight Grand Cross thereof.

Her Majesty has also been pleased to nominate and appoint Major-General Sir Henry Pottinger, Bart., to be a Knight Grand Cross of the said Most Honourable Order.

Her Majesty has further been pleased to nominate and appoint Major-Ge- neral George Pollock, Companion of the said Most Honourable Military Order, and Major. General William Nott, of the East India Company's Service, to be Knights Grand Cross of the same Order.

The Queen has been pleased to direct letters patent to be passed under the Great Seal, granting the dignity of a Baronet of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland unto Lieutenant-General Sir Hugh Gough, G.C.B., and to the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten.

The Queen has been pleased to direct letters patent to be putted under the Great Seal, conferring the honour of Knighthood upon Jasper Atkinson, of Portman Square, in the county of Middlesex, Esq. The Queen has been pleased to grant unto John Guille, Esq., the office of Bailiff of the Island of Guernsey, in the room of Daniel de Lisle Brock, Esq., deceased.

The Archduke Frederick of Austria left town on Wednesday, for Strathfieldsaye, on a visit to the Duke of Wellington.

At a Court of East India Directors, on Wednesday, Mr. Lestock Robert Reid vas appointed a Provisional Member of the Council at Bombay.

Ranpach the German dramatist and Tieck the poet have lately been raised by the King of Prussia to the dignity of Privy Councillors.

Accounts have been received from Madrid to the 28th November, and from Barcelona to the 27th.

The people of Barcelona had for a time carried on the insurrection with much ferocity ; for although they spared their fellow-citizens, they fired on every officer whom Van Haien sent to parley with them, and killed many of his aides-de-camp. However, the threat of a bombard- ment from the fort of Monjuich brought them to reason, and they en- treated the good offices of the Foreign Consuls. The Consuls so far interfered as to protest against a bombardment, without such notice as would enable foreigners to leave the place with their valuables ; and it was suspended accordingly, until the 28th. The insurgents already began to suffer from defection ; and several of the Junta had escaped to Perpignan. The total number of the troops surrounding Barcelona amounted to about 15,000 men.

Terradas, formerly an Alcalde of Figueiras, had declared in favour of the Revolutionary Junta of Barcelona ; but the people of the place organized:a band to oppose and capture him. Gerona, Olot, and Cam- predon had also declared for the Junta ; and Valentia had been the scene of-some sympathetic excitement, the National Guard having driven the troops into the citadel : but all those places had returned to order and allegiance by the 24th.

Madrid has remained tranquil ; although the Catalan Deputies in Congress had not scrupled to manifest sympathy with the insurgents. It was probably to prevent any untoward event in the Cortes, that they were dissolved on the 22d. The Count de las Navas had proposed a vote censuring the journey of the Regent to Catalonia ; and the meet- ing was becoming most stormy, notwithstanding the firmness of S. Olozaga, the President, when the Minister of Marine pronounced the prorogation of the Cortes. It was the general opinion in Madrid that the present Cortes would not be again convened, and that they would be dissolved on the return of the Regent.

iEspartero left Madrid on the 21st; after receiving addresses of con- fidence and support from both Chambers of the Cortes, and several public bodies. The whole of the National Guards were drawn up in the Prado to see him off; and to them and the assembled multitude he made a speech- " Be addressed the Guards," says the correspondent of the Mortar* Cleo- nide, "for upwards of twenty minutes, in a most animated and feeling manner: reminding them of his journey this time twelvemonth to the North, the similarity of the causes now and then, the admirable conduct dis- played in his absence by the Guards on the occasion; and again conaitting to their patriotic care the objects he held most at heart, Isabel the Second, the Constitution of '37, and the tranquillity and prosperity of Spain. At this concluding part of his address, the eyes of all around him filled with tears; and three-loud Vivas' rent the air, which were responded to by all the Guards and spectators present. He then rode off by the gate of Alcala, on the Sara- gossa road, accompanied by General Linage and a portion of his Staff; receiv- ing as be went along the hearty congratulations of the multitude for the suc- cess of his mission and his safe return."

Espartero arrived at Saragossa, where he was well received, on the 24th; and there he still remained on the 26th. Generals Seoane and Serrano followed him from Madrid on the 22d. It is expected that severe measures will be adopted to punish the revolters. On the 26th, the port of Barcelona was declared by a decree to be in a state of blockade.

General Jacqueminot was elected, on Wednesday. Deputy for the first Parisian district. This election caused considerable excitement in Paris, from the great shock that would have been given to the Ministry if General Jacqueminot had failed.

Two steamers have arrived from America : the mail-steamer Cale- donia, which left Boston on the 16th, reached Liverpool on Tuesday eight, having made the passage (including a stoppage of nine hours at Halifax) in thirteen days and six hours ; the Great Western left New York on the 17th, and reached Liverpool on Wednesday morning, having completed the passage in twelve days and eighteen hours.

The elections in the State of New York had been decided, and the Democratic party had triumphed by large majorities. From the ten- dency of the State elections generally, Mr. Clay's chance of the Presi- dency is believed to have been extinguished; and the choice is now un- derstood to lie between Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Calhoun. On the contests in its own State the New York American remarks- " The result of these elections seems to render it probable that the Tariff Bill of the last session will be very materially modified; not, perhaps, by the present Congress, but by the new one, of which the members have just been chosen, and who enter upon their functions in December of next year, unless, after the 4th March, an extra session should be convened. We cannot believe the principle of protection by means of discriminating duties will be aban- doned; yet it is not to be disguised that to a certain extent the popular deci- sion seems to favour such a result. Meantime, uncertainty as to the duration of the law impairs the good it might accomplish, while it aggravates all that

is evil in it" It had been reported that the Cabinet was to be reorganized before the meeting of Congress in December. Mr. Webster would retire from it, and Mr. Cushing would occupy his seat. Mr. Spencer and Mr. Upshur were both mentioned as candidates for the office of Secretary of State.

Mr. Webster had paid a visit to the city of New York. At a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce he made a lengthened speech, in which he recapitulated most of the topics introduced into his former speech at Boston, congratulating his countrymen on the settlement of the Boundary question, and taking a favourable review of the acts of President Tyler and of the policy which the Executive had pursued.

It was said that the President and his Cabinet had determined in some shape to maintain the independence of Texas ; and measures had already been adopted for putting a stop to the invasion threatened by Mexico. The Constellation frigate, 44 guns, Marion sloop-of-war, one of the large steamers, and all the West India fleet, were ordered to concentrate as fast as possible before St. Juan d'Ulloa, at Vera Cruz. Mr. Dickens's Notes for American Circulation had been published in New York by several rival establishments, and distributed in immense numbers, price is., over every part of the country the day after their receipt. One newspaper, the New World also published the entire work at twelve-and-a-half cents (60.), and immediately sold 35,000 copies.

The Caledonia left Halifax on the 18th, and brings Canada papers to the 12th.

Sir Charles Bagot, the Governor-General, had been dangerously ill, and fears were at one time entertained for his life. The Montreal Courier of the 11th says, that he was " rather better at the date of the last accounts."

Mr. E. G. Wakefield had carried his election for Beauharnois county, by a majority of 737 over his opponent, Colonel Scriver. By recent accounts from Mexico and from Texas to the 4th Novem- ber, we learn that an expedition of 3,000 men had left Vera Cruz on the 18th October, to invade the revolted Mexican province of Yutacan. In Texas itself there had been fighting, and a good deal of marching and countermarching, with loss on both sides. The Belize Gazette of October 15th, received at New Orleans, con- tains an account of the deposing and assassination of General Morazan, Governor of the State of Costa Rica, about the middle of September. Whilst the Governor was engaged in the capital, making arrangements to invade Nicaragua to put down the insurgents there, the inhabitants of his own State rose upon him, defeated his troops, and put him to flight. He was overtaken at the distance of a few leagues, captured, bound, and shot. His men were all captured or killed. Mr. David Turnbull, the late British Consul at Havanna, who was removed from that office on account of the displeasure which his con- duct gave to the local authorities, strongly influenced as it was by his Anti-Slavery partisanship, had got into new trouble. According to a New York paper, he had arrived in a small sloop at the port of Givara, on the 16th October, professing to have authority from the British Go- vernment to demand the liberation not only of English Blacks, but of all Africans introduced into the island since the treaty of 1821. He landed in full uniform, preferred his demands, and claimed permission to proceed to certain plantations in the prosecution of his mission. The Governor of Givara caused him to be arrested, and was about to send him to Havanna.

The Globe says that there is in St. George's Hospital a musician, Louis Pouche by name, aged 109 years, who has just undergone the must dangerous operation for hernia! Assistance is asked for the very aged sufferer—of course not in vain.