3litortILautauff.

THE INDIA. Elam. The bill "to transfer the Government of India from the East India Company to her Majesty the Queen" consists of a preamble and eighty-one clauses. The preamble runs thus-

" Whereas by an Act of the Session holden in the sixteenth and seven- teenth years of her Majesty, chapter ninety-five, to provide for the govern- ment of India,' the territories in the possession and under the government of the East India Company were continued under such government, in trust for her Majesty, until Parliament should otherwise provide, subject to the provisions of that act and other acts of Parliament, and the property and rights in the said act referred to are held by the said Company in trust for her Majesty for the purposes of the said government : and whereas it is ex- pedient that the said territories should be governed by and in the name of her Majesty: be it therefore enacted," &c. The first oven clauses enact the transfer.

The territories are to be vested in her Majesty and governed by and in her name. A Secretary of State will exercise the powers now exercised by the President of the Board of Control. Four principal Secretaries and four Under-Secretaries of State may sit in the House of Commons. Seat of President of Board of Control in the House of Commons not vacated by his appointment to the Secretaryship of State. Salaries of one Secretary of State and his Under-Secretaries to be paid out of the revenue of India. Until appointment of Secretary of State, President of Board of Control to act.

The next seventeen dames provide for the Council of India. It will consist of eighteen members. They will be designated "first Member of the Council," "second Member of the Council," and so on. The first thirteen will be nominated in the bill, including four afterwards to be elected ; the remaining five will be elected from the first. The Crown will hereafter appoint nine members. The first of these must have been ten yetusin the Civil Service of the North-Western Provinces, the second ten years in the lower provinces of Bengal ; the third and fourth, ten years in Madras and Bombay respectively ; the fifth must have served ten years in India, including five at the court of a Native prince ; the sixth must have served five years in the Queen's Army ; the remaining three, ten years in the Bengal, Madras, and Bombay Armies respectively.

In future every vacancy in the offices of the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth members will be filled up by election from per- sons who have been ten years in Governmental service in India, or fifteen years resident in India : the constituency to be proprietors holding 10001. India stock, persons holding 2000/. of Indian railway stock, and all civilians and military men who have served ten years in India, providing they have resided six months in. the United Kingdom and are registered. The remain- ing members are to be elected by the Parliamentary constituencies of Lon- don, Liverpool, 1 Manchester, Glasgow, and Belfast. Every eligible candi- date must have resided ten years in India, or have been for five years en-

aged in commerce with India, or in manufacturing goods for export to In-

. Six members are to go out at the end of two, six at the end of four, and six at the end of six years. The members to go out at two and four years shall be taken by ballot from among the Crown nominees. Every person elected to sit for six years. Members who go out eligible for reappoint- ment or reelection. Council to determine questions at elections. The elec- tors constituting the Indian constituency may vote by letter of attorney.. "It shall be lawful for her Majesty to remove any member of the Council from his office upon an address of both Houses of Parliament ; and if Par- liament be net sitting, it shall be lawful for the Council, with the approval of her Majesty, to suspend any member of the Council for criminal or dis- graceful conduct ; and a statement of the fact of such suspension and of

the grounds thereof shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within fourteen days after the next meeting thereof; and unless both Houses of Parliament, within thirty days after such meeting thereof, address her Ma- jesty for the reversal of such suspension, the member so suspended shall cease to be a member of the Council. Members of the Council not to sit in the House of Commons. There shall be paid to each member of the Council the yearly salary of 10001."

The "Duties and Procedure of the Council" are defined in the next eleven clauses.

"The Council shall, under the direction of the Secretary of State, and subject to the provisions of this act, conduct the business transacted in the United Kingdom in relation to the government of India, and the correspond- ence with India in the public department ; but every order or communica- tion sent to India shall be signed by one of the principal Secretaries of State and save, as expressly provided by this act, every order in the United Kingdom in relation to the government of India under this act shall be signed by such Secretary of State, 1 and all despatches from Government and Presidencies in India, and other despatches from India, which if this act had not been passed should have been addressed to the Court of Di- rectors or to their Secret Committee, shall be addressed to such Secretary of State. Secretary of State to divide the Council into committees, and to regulate the transaction of business. Secretary of State president. The Secretary of State to convene the Council when he pleases and upon the requisition of six members, one of their secretaries or assistant-secretaries shall convene a meeting, giving three days' written notice. "The questions at any meeting of the Council at which the Secretary of State is not present shall be determined by the votes of the majority of the members present, and in case of an equality of votes, the Vice-President shall have a second or casting-vote ; but at any meeting of the Council at which the Secretary of State is present, if there be a difference of opinion on any question, except as to the validity of elections or returns of members, or as to such appointments and admissions to service as by this act are authorized to be made by the Council, the determination of the Secretary, of State shall be final : and all acts done at any meeting of the Council in the absence of the Secretary of State shall, except as to such elections and returns, appointments and admissions to service as aforesaid, require his sanction or approval in writing ; and in case of difference of opinion on any question decided at any meeting, the Secretary of State may require that his opinion, and the reasons for the same, be entered in the minutes of the proceedings, and any member of the Council who may have been present at the meeting may require that his opinion, and any reasons for the same, that he may have stated at the meeting, be entered in like man- ner.

"The Vice-President, and such two other members of the Council as the Secretary of State may/from time to time in this be half appoint, to be a Secret Committee of Council for the purposes of this act; and any such member so appointed may at any time be removed by the Secretary of State. "Every order or communication proposed to be sent to India, and every order proposed to be made in the United Kingdom in the public de.partment by the Secretary of State, shall, unless the same has been submitted to a meeting of the Council, be placed in the council-room for the perusal of all members of the Council during seven days before the sending or making thereof; except in the cases hereinafter in ; and it shall be lawful for any member of the Council to record in a minute-book, to be kept for that purpose, his opinion with respect to each such order or communi- cation, and a copy of every opinion so recorded shall be sent forthwith to the Secretary of State." Secretary of State acting against the opinions of the majority to record his reasons. "Provided, that where it appears to the Secretary of State that the despatch of any order or communication or the making of any order in the public department, is urgently required, notice thereof shall be given to every member of the Council ; but the communi- Nation may be sent or order form notwithstanding the same may not have been submitted to a meeting of the Council or deposited for seven days as aforesaid, the urgent reasons for sending or making the same being recorded by the Secretary of State." Orders now sent through Secret Committee to be communicated to the Secret Committee of Council. Secret despatches from India only to be communicated to the Secret Committee.

"Appointments and Patronage" occupy five sections. The Queen will appoint the Governor-General, the fourth ordinary Mem- ber of Council in India, the Governors of Presidencies, and the Advocates- General. The Governor-General will appoint all his Council, except the fourth Member, and the Lieutenant-Governors. Governors of Presidencies will appoint their Council. All appointments subject to the approbation of the Queen. Appointments now made in India to be continued to be made there. All powers of appointing cadets, &c., which would have been exer- cb3ed by the Court of Directors had the act not passed, to be vested in the Queen ; the Council submitting to the Queen the names of those it recom- mends.

The remaining clauses provide for the transfer of the property of the Company to the Queen ; for an audit in England ; for a Commission of Inquiry to go out to India, for the cessation of the Court of Directors and the Board of Control, and the transfer arrangements. The act is to commence on the day next after the passing thereof. Until it is pro- claimed in India, all things done in the name of the East India Com- pany are to be valid.

A semi-official announcement states that "a despatch has been re- ceived by the Earl of lltIalmesbury, her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, from Earl Cowley, her Majesty's Ambassador at Paris, stating that the competent authorities will be authorized, for the future as heretofore, to furnish to British subjects resident in France passports to travel in the interior of the French territories ; and also in cases of urgent necessity to grant passports to British subjects to return to England."

General Peel, acting upon a representation from the Duke of Cam- bridge, has sanctioned the formation of a hospital in the camp at Col- chester, for the sick wives and children of the soldiers and orders have already been issued to the Military Purveying Department to supply the requisite diet and medical comforts.

A correspondence has been published between Miss Nightingale and Mr. Sidney Herbert, the Chairman of the Trustees of the Nightingale Fund. Miss Nightingale wrote on the 23d March to inform the Trustees that her health was 80 impaired that she could not amdertake to execute the teak for which the funds were contributed. Mr. Herbert summoned the Council The result of their deliberations was that they begged MSS Nightingale, through Mr. Herbert, to take further time before she came to any final decision. "The object of the contributors to the fund was two fold. They wished to see established some organization for the traininc of hospital-nurses. They wished to supply, a great and acknowledged deficiency, in our medical system, whether civil or military, and they knew that they could intrust the task to no one so experienced or so capable as yourself. But they wished likewise to mark in a manner personal to yourself their sense of the services rendered to the country by you and by those who acted with you; and they felt that they could offer you no proof of this respect more gratifying than

the proposal of a fresh task to be undertaken and fresh work to be done We have seen some of the results of the labours on behalf of the Army to which you have contributed. We trust that a short time will witness their completion, and that you will have the gratification of seeing the fruits which they will bear. When this time arrives we cannot but trust that with di- minished labour you will regain your health, and that without undue fa- tigue or exertion you will be enabled to give a general superintendence to

the plans you may devise for the application of the fund In the meanwhile the money, though unapplied, is not idle. It is well invested, and therefore increasing by the accumulation of interest, and the delay. will be partly compensated by the enlarged means which will ultimately be at your disposal.'

Nightingale cannot refuse a proposal so generously offered. "I believe that you will be willing to assure the Council and Trustees that I will work if I can, and when lean. It is a great relief to me to have your assurance that they are aware that hitherto it has been impossible for me to do anything in this work, and that it will be so for some time to come, —how long it is not in my power to say. The fear that I might appear to neglect a trust committed to me weighed heavily on my mind, and the great uncertainty as to my ever being able to fulfil it induced me to request that I might be allowed to relinquish it. But I beg to leave the matter entirely in your hands as proposed by you ; and I have only to repeat my thanks to you and the Council for the heartfelt pleasure afforded me by your confidence and good wishes."

A letter on the African cotton trade from Mr. Thomas Clegg of Man- chester to Mr. Macgregor Laird has been published. It contains a condensed account of Mr. Clegg's efforts to promote the cotton trade in Western Africa in order thereby to "starve out" slavery. Mr. Clegg began at Sierra Leone, but finding that it was the wrong quarter, he went at once to Abbeokuta. After many years spent in the work he brought his machinery, by the aid of three native Africans, into full play. He was liberally assisted by the African Native Agency Committee of London, and the British Consul at Lagos. He sent out 157 cotton-gins, entered into communication with seventy-six African traders, twenty- two being chiefs ; and since his return to England, many of them have begun to consign cotton and other produce to him. In consequence of two fires at Abbeokuta he did not receive in 1857 so much cotton as he expected. The quantity produced was 929 bales ; the quantity burnt was 321 bales. Yet he was only at a corner of the great cotton-field of Africa.

"Coupling my experience on this coast, the belief of the Abbeokutans, and the recent despatch of Dr. Baikie from the Niger to our Government, where he states that the Reverend Mr. Clarke had seen at Ila near forin, in the Yoruba country, fifteen or sixteen packages of clean cotton offered for sale, weighing 75 pounds to 80 pounds each, and had been assured by the Natives that on market-days (every fourth) from one to two thousand such bags were offered for sale, and this for their own country manufacture only. I say, coupling these statements with my operations, what I know of Tunis and Natal, and what Dr. Livingstone tells us of the East, I can clearly see a prospect of the slave-trade being entirely starved out; the tractable docile, and intelligent African rising in e scale of civilization and ' th Christianity, in proportion as he is allowed to enjoy

his own rights, and stay in, till the land, and trade in his own native country, even if confined to the cultivation of cotton alone."- Other persons have now sent out 250 gins, capable of producing 10,000 American-sized bales per annum. "This, I think, is a rare instance cif rapid development of a particular trade, and the more so inasmuch as, in my, case, every ounce of cotton has been collected, all the labour performed, and the responsibility of doing it borne, by native Africans alone. I have many reasons for believing that the whole matter will prosper. First, I believe it has God's blessing upon it; next, Africa is naturally adapted for growing cotton, as everywhere it springs spontaneously and is indigenous to the country; next, because wherever cotton will grow the people cry out for the African to come and help them to cultivate it, showing, in my opin- ion, that he is its natural cultivator also. Besides all this I find that Afri- can cotton, whether from Quilimane on the East, Abbeokuta on the West, Tunis or Algeria on the North, or Natal in the South, that this cotton is the best substitute for American cotton. Indeed, from whatever part of Africa it comes in its natural state it will invariably fetch in the Liverpool market from twopence to threepence per pound more than East India cotton under similar circumstances."

He desires to act entirely threngh the Natives, fearing that if Euro- peans took up the cultivation of cotton it would result in a revival of the slave-trade. He therefore proposes to raise 20401. for four new cot- ton stations.

According to a provincial paper, Mr. Allsop has made a curious pro- posal to the British Government. A relative has come forward to state what it is, and the ground on which it is based.

"I have now to state unhesitatingly, and with all the emphasis of which language is capable'hint;that Mr. Thomas Allsop is entirely innocent of the charges laid against that he had no complicity, in the attempt of the 14th of January—and not only that he had no complicity, but that he had no knowledge that that or any other attempt was to be made • and that he derived his first information of it from the newspaper placards when on his way to his office on the following morning. All this can be fully substan- tiated by proof, and Mr. Allsop is willing to come forward at once and an- swer any charge that may be made against him ; but he is not prepared to undergo a gratuitous and lengthened imprisonment previous to trial nor is he willing to rain himself pecuniarily in defending himself against the power of two Governments, both desirous of sacrificing him to a presumed necessity, of statecraft. If means can be found to obviate these two evils by a day being named for his trial, and his expenses guaranteed to him in the event of his innocence being proved, he is willing to surrender on the day named, and abide his trial. A communication on this subject has, I believe, been made to the Government, the issue of which will be known in a few days."

The new Lords of the Admiralty have begun that pleasant part of their duty the "inspection" of the seaports and naval arsenals—trips to the sea- side and from port to port performed under the most agreeable circum- stances. "My Lords" commenced with Chatham, whither they went on Tuesday.

The Soldiers' Institute at Woolwich was opened to the subscribers on Monday morning : this useful adjunct to the garrison promises to prove succersaful.

The Earl of Malcuesbury had a dinner-party on Saturday. Lord Pal- merston also received a party at dinner ; and Lady Palmerston subsequently held her usual assembly.

It is rumoured in France that the Emperor will visit our Queen at Os- borne this summer ; but the statement has been authoritatively denied.

The Pope has made Mr. Maguire M.P. a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory; the honour was earned by Mr. Maguire's recently-pub- lished book on Rome.

Mr. Dickens has read his Christmas Carol to the members of the Philoso- phical Institution at Edinburgh ; and in requital the Directors, through the Lord Provost, who presided, presented Mr. Dickens with a silver Christ- mas wassail-bowl.

On Tuesday died John Henry Barrow, well known as the editor of the "Mirror of Parliament," a series of Parliamentary reports intended to rival .Hansard. Towards the close of his life he suffered severely from poverty, but his latest days were cheered by a grant from the Literary Mr. Quintin Dick, many years Member for Malden, and afterwards for Aylesbury, died at his house in Curzon Street on the 26th March. Ile re- tired from public life in 1850.

A distant relative to the Emperor of the French has died at Vienna— M. Kiopechi. The maiden name of the grandmother of the First Napoleon was Kiopeehi.

The Parisian press have been " invited " not to publish extracts from the works of the Emperor, which were issued by himself.

M. Gautier de Rougemont, a superior officer on the retired list, has teen appointed conservator of Napoleon's tomb at St. Helena. - The French passport nuisance has been extended to Saxony ; new regula- tions for the granting of passports have been issued.

The Duke of Malakoff, who but a few short years ago was Colonel Pelis- sier, living on his pay, has now the following income: as Duke of Mala- koff; i 100,000f. ; asAmbassador, 300,000f. ; as Marshal of France, 40,000f.; as Senator, 30,000f. ;—total, 470,000f. per annum. Besides this 18,000/. a year, he will receive 40001. down for the expenses of the installation of his embassy. It is stated in an Athens journal that a manuscript copy on parchment of the Gospels in Greek, and bearing the date 480, has recently been found fir the garret of a house in that city. It is said to be in good preservation, and has been deposited in the Public Library of Athens.

It is stated that the Archduke Albrecht is verydesirous to quit his post as Governor-General of Hungary; he is at present in Vienna.

In consequence of the low value of agricultural produce, the landed proprietors of Hungary are unable to pay their taxes ; while other classes are exceedingly poor.

The Bohemian Bishop of Leitmeritz has made a proposition to the manu- facturers of his diocese which certainly would not suit our millowners : he demands that crucifixes and sacred pictures shall be placed in the manufac- tories, and that sermons and religious lectures shall be given to the people while they are at work ; also that there may be less work and more time for prayer, and higher wages to be paid.

The Government of Austria have tried to get rid of the Cardinal Arch- bishop of Gram Primate of Hungary—the Archbishop of Vienna not being able to bear with equanimity, the existence of a second Primate in Austria— by getting the Pope to " invite " the Cardinal to end his days at Rome ; but the Chapter of Gran would not hear of their Archbishop even visiting Rome—by ecclesiastical law, he must not quit Hungary.

People are beginning to ask where the money can come from to pay foe the great pomp and magnificence affected by the Archduke Ferdinand at Milan.

The Municipality of Paris is about to commence public works which will cost 160,000,000 francs ; the Government will provide 60,000,000 francs of the money.

The great reduction in the Russian army has put so many officers on half-pay—which is small in Russia—that considerable discontent prevails among the military. The stagnation in the trade of France has become so serious that it has attracted the attention of the Government, and schemes for its improvement are under consideration.

Experiments have been made in Paris with a new plan for drying hides and skins ; the expense is trifling, and the mode of drying seems to be good.- Complaints continue to be made of the ease with which defaulters in Eng- land escape their creditors by availing themselves of the Scotch bankruptcy law. A respectable firm, who had previously suffered in a similar manner, have just been defeated in an attempt to counteract a movement of this kind. The debtor was a London attorney, against whom they obtained a judgment. He claimed, however, to be protected by virtue of a sequestration obtained a few mouths previously in Scotland, and which he had been able to manage without opposition, since, while his real place of business was Bucklersbury. he was described in the official notices as of Stoniaway, in the county of Ross, without any mention of his profession or occupation. The English Court was accordingly applied to to overrule his plea, on the ground that. he had not been fitly and sufficiently described ; but the result was unfavour- able. It was decided that he had obtained his final discharge ; and thus new confidence will be given to that numerous class of adventurers who cultivate a knowledge of the law to avail themselves of the endless facilities it offers for securing immunity to rogues, and punishing those who for the sake of public morality may endeavour to bring them to their deserts.-21m08, CitY Article.

The Emperor of Austria has granted a concession for the Galician Railroad from Cracow to Lemberg, which is to be completed by the year 1863. A project is on foot in New York, under the direction of Mr. Loosey, the Austrian Consul-General, to establish a line of steamers between New York and the ports of the Mediterranean. The departure of the steamers would be so arranged as to meet the India, China, and Australian mails at Corfu, on their way from Trieste to Alexandria. The first cargo from the Niger, laden at Lairdstown, 600 miles from the mouth, has arrived in the schooner George at Liverpool. In the course of next month two steamers will leave the Thames for New Zealand, to carry on ,the newly-arranged mail-service between Sydney and New Zealand. The Burrs Burra copper-mines in South Australia now give employment to 1013 miners, and support a population of nearly 5000 persons. What appears to have been an old Roman mine has been discovered ct Snowbrook, at the base of Pliulimmon. It is said to be a valuable deposit of lead and silver ; and arrangements are 'flaking to work it.

Good iron ore has been found at Orton, near Peterborough, on the estate of the Marquis of Huntly. About forty tons found near the surface have been smelted as an experiment, and the product was satisfactory-. Mining is to be commenced.

There are 5782 proprietors of India Stock, 1032 of whom are females ; 1663 possess 1000/. and upwards of Stock, and are thus qualified to vote.

During last year 236 persons were killed and 738 wounded by accidents on the railways of the United Kingdom.

In the year 1857, 1143 ships suffered damage or were lost on our coasts— those totally lost numbered 437. The wreck experience of the year, on the whole, was rather favourable as compared with past years. Besides private and corporate life-boats, the Life-boat Institution now maintains no fewer than sixty-six boats on the coasts of the United Kingdom.

The Times correspondent at San Francisco specially warns English in- vesters against California railway schemes, many of which arc utter bub- bles, intended only to delude the credulous.

"Under the influence of fine weather," says the Registrar-General, the mortality of London is" much reduced." The number of deaths last week was 126$, in the preceding week 1431; showing a decrease of 163. The mortality is also 71 below the calculated average. Five persons died each upwards of 90 years old.

M. Gopcevich, a well-known Trieste shipowner, has become deranged: as he is a man of prodigious strength, it is remarked that his keepers will have no easy task to restrain him should his madness take a violent turn.

Mr. Deane, master of the Gertrude, just arrived in the Mersey from New Orleans, sought to avert English indignation, by explaining why he put back to New °demi to give up a poor slave who had secreted himself on board in the hope of freedom. Mr. Deane is a native of New Brunswick, and no lover of slavery. But if he had not put back with the Negro he would have made himself liable to a fine of 5000 dollars, and im_prisonment for fifteen years, while the ship if it ever reintered a port in a Slave State would have been confiscated : the last penalty influenced bins most—he would have perilled his owners' ship had he brought the Negro to England.

The Peruvians seem likely to get into hot water with the United States and Chili. They have seized two American and two Chili= vessels, both loading guano from the Government deposits at Pabellon de Pica. The American captains were placed under arrest, but were bailed out. A Peru- vian war-steamer has also boarded an American ship on the high seas and carried her to Callao, because her papers showed that she was destined both for Callao and Iquique. After an examination at Callao, the ship was liberated and the captain was compensated. The United States have de- manded satisfaction for the insult to their flag. The Merrimac is on its way to inquire into the other cases. It is supposed that Chili will go to war with Peru on account of the seizure of her vessels.

A strange story is related in the last Rio Janeiro papers. "In a board- ing-school kept by a Frenchwoman was a girl of less than twelve years of age, named Correa, heiress to a fortune of 600,000 francs. An Italian ad- venturer named Judice, who got his living as a hawker, resolved to marry, the girl, and had recourse to this stratagem. He went to the Bishop of Rio Janeiro, a pious but credulous man, and said that, having been for some time living with a woman not his wife, he wished to regularize his position by marrying her; and, as it was important to have the marriage Performed at once without publicity, he solicited a licence. The Bishop granted the licence, and, on the man's declaration, put in it the woman's name as Correa. The Italian then went to the boarding-school, and said that he was sent by the girl's mother to take her home, as she wished to indulge her with a visit to the theatre. The school mistress imprudently gave up the child to him, and he took her at once to the church mentioned in the licence and had himself married to her. The next day he wrote to the girl's mother to inform her of the marriage. The poor mother, in in- dignation, immediately communicated with the police, and they at once took the girl from the man and gave her up to her mother. The Italian, and some persons who acted as witnesses of the marriage, have been ar- rested. It is considered strange that the priest, notwithstanding the li- cence, should have celebrated the marriage, as the girl was dressed in a short frock and trousers like a child. The affair has created an immense sensation at Rio, but what the upshot of it will be remains to be seen."

A gang of no fewer than twenty-eight robbers have been captured at Sthulwerssenburg in Hungary; they were well provided with arms horses, and carriages. Nine were forthwith ordered to be hanged by a drum-head court-martial. •

A Negro has been " lynched " at Antrim California. He had been placed in prison for the murder of a man, but impatient mob assaulted the officials, broke into the gaol, dragged the murderer to the nearest tree, and suspended him. The knot being improperly adjusted, the Negro, after hanging about a minute, exclaimed, "Lord God, gentlemen, I can't die dis way ! " He was then lowered, the knot was placed under his ear, and he was soon strangled.