POSTSCRIPT.

SATURDAY. The sittings in both Houses of Parliament yesterday were of short duration, in neither House lasting much longer than two hours. The principal subject of conversation in the Lords was Indian finance. On the motion for the third reading of the East India Loan Bill, Lord MorrrzeoLE, taking the " most gloomy " view of Indian fi- nance and its accumulating deficit, raised the question of the responsi- bility of England for the debts of India. He showed that on three previous occasions, in 1794, 1810, and 1812, the Imperial Government had assisted the Company with loans. If Parliament should pass a bill putting an end to the Company, how should we stand in relation to ob- ligations arising from India ? He quoted Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Dis- raeli to show that if the credit of India be disordered the credit of Eng- land must support it.

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said, the object of the measure which the present Government will propose is to give India a better and cheaper government. The duty of the person placed at the head of Indian af- fairs in England, " as it is his desire," is to reduce the expenditure in India within the revenue, " and I irust he will succeed." Nearly thirty years ago, acting under the Duke of Wellington, he had, in two years and a half, effected a saving of 1,800,000/. Now there are great difficulties, because we shall be compelled to employ forty additional battalions of Infantry, ten regiments of Cavalry, and a large force of Artillery. As the European costs three times as much as the Native soldier, the revenue can only be equalized by reducing the Native army ; his own idea at present is that a reduction of sixty-four battalions should be made in the Bengal army. Lord Ellenborough gave a favourable view of the state of Indian finances, and looked hopefully forward to the future.

" Now, I must say, on the supposition that we are enabled to give good government to India, that I do not see why we should despair of seeing India hereafter raised to a state of great prosperity. It is the most exten- sive empire and the richest in the world. It is traversed in all directions by noble rivers, which can be made navigable by art. We are now travers- ing it in all directions by railroads ; and I cannot understand why, with all our European energy and knowledge and civilization, we should not make India as productive as it was in the time_of Aurungzebe. He derived a very large revenue from the portion of India which he had-as large a revenue, I believe, as we now derive from the whole country. I confidently look forward to the realization of that object, which, if it can be accomplished, will be particularly gratifying to my noble friend, who very naturally takes a fiscal view of this question, and considers mainly in what manner the revenue of India is to be raised. I know that a Government guided by intelligence will do more for the good of the people than one that acts with injurious parsimony on the one hand, or unpardonable extravagance on the other, and so impoverishes the country."

Earl GRANVILLE said that real economy must depend on the local Government of India. If that Government believe they have facilities for raising money on the security of the Crown and Parliament of Eng- land, there will be encouragement to a lavish expenditure. Circum- stances may arise in which this country may assist India, but the form of government cannot affect the question. The bill before the House does not give any collateral security further than the revenues of India. Lord ELLENEGROUGH said, that neither by the bill nor on any other ground can India evade in the slightest degree the liability thrown upon it to repay the whole of the loan. Earl GREY said, there is no obligation, moral or any other, to pay the debts of India. If it were otherwise, the Indian expenditure must be submitted to Parliament ; and the same prin- ciple applies to the other dominions of the Crown. The revenue of India, and of India alone, is pledged by the bill. If India is properly governed, the security it affords for the loan is a very good one.

" We have hitherto kept up a disproportionate army in India, not so much for internal purposes as with a view to meet imaginary external dangers. The real source of our calamity in India and of our future danger is the war- like policy on which we have acted. I trust we shall now feel the necessity of keeping our army in India, and particularly the Native army, within moderate limits ; and we shall then adopt the principle of not meddling in the affairs of our neighbours a course which has drawn us into expensive wars and been the cause of all our difficulties. If the money thrown away on the Affghan war had been applied to internal improvements, how far would it have gone to increase the security of our position in the country and to establish our influence in the central parts of Asia !"

The Marquis of CLANRICARDE urged good government, careful re- trenchment, and a revision of the Native army in all the Presidencies. The bill was read a third time and passed( In answer to a question from Lord CuaciricannE respecting the Go- vernment's intentions with regard to National Education in Ireland, the Earl of DERBY made a reply remarkably general in its terms, and in tailor like that which he had given already and which has been repeated by Mr. Disraeli in the other House,-intimating a desire to do some- thing fon schools of the Church of England in Ireland.

"But," he said in conclusion, " I am prepared distinctly to say this-that her Majesty's Government have come to no decision upon that subject; that they are determined to do nothing which in their judgment may imperil the existing system ; and, further, that no alteration shall be made in the dis- tribution of the grant without the previous assent and concurrence of Par- liament."

The House of Commons was occupied by a variety of questions on minor topics.

In answer to Mr. HORSFALL, Lord STANLEY said that it is not the in- tention of the Government to establish a uniform system of law throughout the British empire. Any attempt to do so would create dis- satisfaction. He trusted to the gradual adoption of English ideas and English habits by the colonists themselves. Mr. DE VERB inquired what the Government intended to do with the Encumbered Estates Court ? Lord NAAS said that if they could not bring in a permanent measure they would introduce a continuance bill. Mr. J. D. FITZGERALD asked for a more satisfactory statement. Mr. WALPOLE said that the Encumbered Estates Court is in no danger from the Go- vernment. The Government would not be unwilling to extend the prin- ciple of granting a Parliamentary title to property which is unen- cumbered. For his own pet, he should have no objection to advocate the extension of that principle to England.

Mr. BAGWELL called the attention of the House to the conduct of cer- tain persons who professed to act as agents in obtaining commissions in the Army without purchase or examination, on the enlistment of men

for her Majesty's service. To make out his case, Mr. Bagwell read advertisements and letters. The proposals published were, that certain agents would obtain a commission, and the requisite number of men, on the payment of a sum. He mentioned a ease within his own knowledge where certain agents undertook to get the men and commission, but they declined to say how they would get the one or the other. With these transactions he connected a captain in the recruiting service.

General PEEL said, that when there was a pressure for men the Horse Guards gave gentlemen who raise a certain number, commissions. The men were not to be raised by recruiting-sergeants, and in order'to raise them recourse was had to the agency described. These arrange- ments were private bargains between the agents and the young men, and the Horse Guards had no knowledge of them. As there is not such a pressure for men now as to justify the continuance of the system, it exists no longer.

A large meeting was held in Drury Lane Theatre yeeterday, to pro- mote subscriptions to the Havelock Fund. The Duke of Cambridge occupied the chair. Among the speakers were the Chairman, the Mar- quis of Lansdowne, Sir Duncan M•Dougall, the Earl of Cardigan, Sir William Gomm, Mr. Vernon Smith, Lord John Russell, Sir William Williams, and the Reverend William Brock. All united in admiring and affectionate tributes to the memory of Sir Henry Havelock. Reso- lutions were adopted for raising money to carry out the object of the meeting—the erection of a statue to General Havelock in Trafalgar Square.

The Times Paris correspondent revives with great emphasis the re- port that M. de Persigny has tendered his resignation of the London Embassy, and that in the late proceedings, of which he entirely disap- proves, he only acted ministerially. The story now is that he will not join the Ministry, but for a time retire altogether from politics. Other ndents give the story with a different colouring. The Post says grarteg: resignation of M. de Persigny is a fact, and that it is "owing to differences with M. Walewaki." The Daily Hews correspondent states that the reason of his resignation "is vexation at Lord Derby's Ministry having abandoned what he considers their promise to go on with the Con- spiracy Bill, and also a difference with Count Walewski."

The Emperor and Empress went to the Opera on Wednesday, the first time since the attempt to assassinate them. They have not altered their habits. The Daily Hews correspondent, writing from Paris on Thurs- day, says the Emperor continually drives out in his phaeton. " Yesterday he was in the Bois de Boulogne without escort, and was walking about with the Empress and the Imperial Prince. I happened this afternoon to be a witness to the almost rash way in which he sets at naught precautions which most men in his situation would be likely to take. Pass- mg through the Tuileries gardens, between three and four o'clock this afternoon, I saw the Emperor alone, standing on the steps of the little staircase leading from his study to the reserved garden, which is only fenced off from the public promenade by a railing not more than forty yards from the palace, and a railing which anybody might jump over. For at least a quarter of an hour he remained alone, leaning en the banisters in an attitude of contemplation, with his legs crossed and smoking a cigar. The day being very fine, thousands of people were walking in the gardens, and great numbers leaned over the railings to stare at him. When at length, being summoned by an usher to give audience to some one, he went into his study, he left the outer door open. Whatever may be said against him, truth commands one to say that pusillanimity is not one of his cha- racterietics."

Baron Brunnow landed at Dover late last night. He comes to London today, to resume his old functions as Ambassador from the Emperor of Russia to the Court of St. James's.

Bundles of papers have been received from Australia and New Zea- land : the cream of their contents is condensed into the subjoined para- graphs.

Victoria.—By latest advices from the colony to the 16th of January,

commercial affairs appear to be suffering under depression, resulting in part from the monetary crisis in England ; but the depression has not been so bad as most people anticipated. Perhaps the full effect of the shock has not yet been experienced. Several failures had occurred. The firm of Dennistoun and Co. of Australia held their ground.

There are signs that the yield of gold is on the decline. The amount ex- ported in 1856 was 2,906,394 oz.—in 1857 2,834,577 oz. The Melbourne Age adds—" Nor have the escorts, since the commencement of the present year presented us with more encouraging results ; and, after making every allowance for a dry season indisposition to sell at the reduced rates which have recently been established, and the quantity brought down by private hand, we cannot avoid the conclusion that the aggregate yield of our gold-fields is seriously declining. That the older grounds should be exhausted is not re- markable ; but that the new rushes (more populous and comprising wider tracts of country) should fail to make up the deficit, is well worthy of note, and ought to be considered by those who entertain such confident hopes of the future Victoria, so far as gold is concerned." i

Labour is again in demand and good wages are obtainable. New Zealand.—Papers have been received from Wellington to the 9th December, and from Canterbury to the end of November. The recent arrival from Australia has brought no regular mail, the postal service being in a very defective state. Wellington is absorbed in local political warfare, which is, as usual, carried on with intense bitterness on both sides. The only thing remarkable is the introduction of the vicious system of voting by the ticket at the elections ; the effect being to fill the LocarI egislature with extreme partisans, to the exclusion of their opponents, and without regard, on either side, to individual fitness.

The accounts from Canterbury show a remarkable degree of prosperity for the youngest of our colonies. The revenue of the province is estimated at 40,0001. a year. The sale of land at 2/. per acre progresses at a steady and satisfactory rate ; thus justifying the theory on which the colony was founded as regards the system of disposal of waste lands. The colony generally appears to be in a flourishing state.