The overlaid mail brings news from Bombay to April 3;
from Calcutta, to March 251 from Canton, to March 7. The Affreeclies of Kohat have gained an important moral success: two thousand of them regularly, invested a hill-fort in which the British had left a garrison; and they so reduced the men for want of water, that Captain Coke, the senior officer of the district, negotiated for their withdrawal, and evacuated the stronghold on the 31st March. Sir Charles Napier was at Lahore on the 22d March.
Lord Dalhousie returned to Calcutta on the 7th March, with health quite restored by his extensive progress round the circuit of our Eastern domimons.
Commander Lockyer, of the Medea war-steamer, has attacked and demo- lished a force of thirteen piratical junks, mounting about 120 guns and manned by 900 men : 220 pirates were killed and 20 made prisoners, -with "not a single casualty on our side."
The West Indian mail, from St. Thomas's an the 14th April, brings news ef an anti-convict agitation commenced at Turk's Island. The Jamaica Morning Journal prints their petition to Earl Grey, loudly and earnestly protesting against the intention to introduce convict labour among them.
Last night's Gazette announces that the Queen has granted to the Reve- rend Gilbert Elliott, Master of Arts, the dignity of Dean of the Cathedral Church of Bristol, void by the death of Dr. John Lamb, late Dean thereof.
The Reverend James Pulling, Fellow and Tutor, has been unanimously elected Master of Corpus Christi College Cambridge; in room of Dr. Lamb. - Mr. Commissioner Shepherd of the Court of Bankruptcy has sent in his re- signation to the Lord Chancellor, and it has been accepted.—Standard.
It was stated by Lord Overdone yesterday, to a meeting of the London committee of bankers, &c.' for promoting Prince Albert's Show of Industry, that 60,000/. has already been subscribed.
Direct steam-communication between the West of Ireland and America is about to be opened. The Viceroy steamer is advertised to start from Galway on the morning of the 1st of June for Halifax and New York. She carries none but first-class passengers and a moderate amount of goods : the fare is 251.—Titnes Correspondence.
Captain Austin's Arctic expedition of four vessels left Greenhithe this morning, on its Northern route.
Vague rumours of the safety of the Arctic voyagers under Sir John Franklin have been so many times lately given to the public that the healthy ability to balance the real facts and remaining probabilities seems impaired. A thrice-delivered and thrice-discredited Californian report had already encouraged gloom, when there arrived the official and au- thentic intelligence from the American settlements of the Hudson's Bay Company, that their officers Dr. Rae and Mr. Ballender, with the boat expedition from the Plover, have been unsuccessful ; and under this blow despondency sank into despair. The facts, however, as little justify present despondency as they did recent elation. A letter by Mr. Rae himself states that the great quan- tity of ice prevented him from getting to Wellington's-land Island, (IVoollaston's-land Island?) and therefore his search does not seem to have been exhaustive. Then it is to be recollected that these expeditions along the Arctic coast of America, from the West towards the Copper- mines river, have only been sent rather as a precaution against omitting search in places not impossible, than in places really probable. It is one of the last suppositions that Sir John Franklin should be found there ; but as he can have gotten there, it would be very culpable to omit the iearch.
All the probabilities are in favour of the conjecture that the expedi- tion will yet be discovered, in a region somewhat remote from these land explorations, towards Jones's Sound, or among the waters and lands to the West and South-west of Cape Walker. Sir John Franklin's own charts give two entrances from the lower en& of Prince Regent's Inlet into the Western Arctic Ocean.; and it is the opiaiou of those who have the best knowledge of his aims and his probable adurse that he will yet be found in this unexplored direction. Captain Penny ;sill take direction of Jones's Sound, and he is deemed the likeliest man to find the lost ex- pedition. But for search in the other direction indicated—Westward of the bottom of Prince Regent's Inlet—and for traversing so far as is possible all the land lying between that inlet and the regions South-west of Cape Welker, Commander Forsyth is about to proceed with an inde- pendent crew in the small vessel whose purchase for that purpose we last week mentioned.
We may therefore still mingle with our admiration for the efforts so varied and persevering which the noble Lady Franklin directs to recover her husband, some not irrational hopes of her ultimate success.
With this week one-half of the session has terminated, on the suppo- sition that the number of weeks devoted to business should be the same this session as the last—namely, twenty-six. Hitherto the progress has been steadier in the disposal of business, Ministerial and otherwise, than it was during the two preceding sessions. There has been an almost total cessation of the " counting-out ' process, and not an instance has occurred Of the non-formation of a "House." The Rajah of Sattara motions of Mr. George Thompson and Mr. Hume—the subtile international law mo- tions of Mr. David Urquhart—the combined Anti-Palmerstonian motions of Mr. David 17rquheit and Mr. Anstey—which used to scare Members from going to the House on the nights that any of them were likely to come on—have not recurred this session. The lopping-off too of Thursday from the motion-making department, and converting it into a bill-dis- cussion night, has added to the businesslike aspect. Still there is nothing to show that the session will close earlier than its predecessor, or that there will not be a recurrence of unseemly bustle by the time the hot weather sets in. Ministers have displayed considerable resoluteness, or, as some would call it, "face," in askmg the House to take up import- ant measures at late hours ; but the effort has been invariably resisted.
Seven is now the number of the Ministerial defeats ; and persons out of doors, who know the importance which both Houses attach to prece- dent, begin to speculate upon the number which may be required to pro- duce a resignation.
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