31liortIlantuns.

Two letters from Lord Panmure have appeared in the Dublin Gazette: one to Lord Carlisle, the other to the Duke of Cambridge. They state that the Government have resolved to raise two additional cavalry regi- ments, and that one will be called the Fifth Royal Irish Regiment of Dragoons' the other the Eighteenth Dragoons. The Fifth Dragoons were disbanded in 1799, and their number erased from the Army List. Their fault was the famous flight from Castlebar, popularly known as "the races of Castlebar," when threatened with an attack by General Hum- bert. In his letter to the Duke of Cambridge, Lord Panmure says- " In communicating to the Army the restoration of the 5th Dragoons to its place among the cavalry regiments of the line, her Majesty's Govern- ment trusts that your Royal Highness will duly impress upon the Queen's forces this act of her Majesty's grace and favour."

" Indophilus," in the Times, n-rites rather confidently about the fu- ture Indian army, and thus generally describes its composition- " The artillery and the regular infantry and cavalry will be entirely European. The civil duties heretofore performed by the Sepoys will be in- trusted to an improved Native police under the supervision of European officers. The European infantry andcavalry will be supported by an auxi- liary Native force, equipped and disciplined in a manner suited to light troops. It has long been felt that the command of such troops requires spe- cial qualifications ; but in the attempt to obtain them one portion of the Native army has been sacrificed to another. There will, however, now be a clear division of labour. One line will be the command of European, the other that of Native troops ; and the object will be to cast the parts of the officers in a manner suited to their inclination and capacity. The'Queen's cadets' ought all to be posted in the first instance to the European troops, where they would become accustomed to an exact discipline and would re- ceive the best instruction in the elements of the military art. They should remain in this position at least a year, and after that it should be open to them until the end of the fifth year of their service to establish their superior qualifications for employment in the Native auxiliary force, or in the Com- missariat, the Judge-Advocate-General's department, police, or other branches for which an intimate acquaintance with Native language and habits is indis- pensable. There should bea single line of promotion for the Native service, but the pay should be proportioned to the relative importance of the various appointments embraced in it. The general principle should be that which already prevails in the Irregular corps—a small number of officers, but care- fully selected and specially qualified. The purely military staff should be consolidated, and should form the point of union between the European and Native services. It would, of course, be composed of the most distinguished officers of either service, due regard being had to the indispensable condition of knowledge of the Native language and habits. Supposing the European force for Bengal, Agra, Oude, and the Puwjaub to consist of 30,000, and that for Bombay, Seinde, and Central India of 10,000 men, this plan might be at once introduced into the greater part of the Peninsula. The Bombay Native Army would be reduced to the required model by discontinuing the recruit- ing of Hindustances in the infantry regiments. As the Madras Army has stood the test of the great mutiny, it must preserve its organization for the present, and may be dealt with exceptionally."

The European force should be relieved every seven years the most efficient officers remaining for service of various kinds in India. The civil, medical, and scientific military appointments should be disposed of by open competition ; the Commander-in-chief should appoint cadets for the infantry and cavalry from the beat competitors in an examination. Purchase should be abolished. [How could purchase be abolished, if the system of reliefs be maintained, unless it were abolished in the whele British Army?] Mr. W. P. Grant of Edinburgh, "head of the family" of which Mr. John Peter Grant, the Indian civil servant, is a member, has published a letter from his relative contradicting the story circulated in December respecting the alleged release of 150 mutineers and his interference with General Neill. Mr. John Peter Grant writes-

" The answer is, that there is not the slightest conceivable foundation for any part of tlw story. I have not released or pardoned a singleperson. No case about European soldiers assaulting mutineers, or rebels being released, or ordered to be released, ever occurred at all either at Cawnporo or any- where else. I never saw General Neill, nor had any relations with him of any sort, public or private, or any concern with any of his measures; and beyond thinking him a very fine fellow, and expressing my opinion of him frequently, I have never taken a part in anything relating to him, or had an opportunity of doing so."

Lieutenant-General Thomas Ashburnham, who was originally appointed to the command of the expedition to China, and was thence transferred to India, arrived in London on Friday last, by the overland maim(' Calcutta. We believe the return of General Ashburnham was entirely unexpected either at the Horse Guards or the War Department.—Timee, Feb. 1.

One consequence of the attempted assassination of the French Emperor is a change in the passport system : for the future the Consul-General and Consular officers of France will only grant passports to French subjects. This change has been notified to the public by Lord Clarendon, and he has accompanied it with a notice of consequent changes in our own system. In future British subjects, Ionians, and naturalized foreigners, will be able to obtain passports from the Foreign Office, not only if they are known to the Foreign Secretary or recommended by the head of a backing firm, but also if they are recommended by any Mayor, or Magistrate, or Justice of the Peace. The charge for the issue of each passport will be 6s., including 5s. stamp-duty. The passports will be issued between eleven and four o'clock daily, and must be visCal by the agent of the country whither the bearer proceeds. Application may be made by post, and the passports, if possible, will be returned by the next post.

In 1854, passports were granted in France to 50,315 persons; in 1855, to 51,2.55. The passports for foreign countries were, in 1853, 9694; in 1854, 18,097; in 18.55, 19,957. -

"E.," writing to the Times, calls attention to one way in which England has been made the home of foreign refugees--the French Government has repeatedly got rid of Italian, Polish, and other refugees, by forcibly export- ing them from France to England : what more likely to make these men dangerous conspirators than casting them penniless on our shores ?

The Bobadil extravagances of the ultra-loyal French Colonels have made Ike commercial classes of France quite nervous : an "improvement" which was beginning to appear in the trade of the country has been rudely clucked.

The Imperial Navy of France is rapidly undergoing. conversion into a steam fleet : in the course of this year the steam-ships of the line will be augmented. to twenty-four—during the.Crimean war France had but nine such vessels.

La Presse is no longer to be permitted to be sold in the streets : it is thought that the prohibition will be extended to all other Parisian eyening papers.

Mr. John Staniforth announces that he has been commissioned by the Turkish Government to purchase materials in England for making an elec- tric telegraph from Constantinople to the Persian Gulf. Experiments for propagating a breed of merino sheep in Algeria having proved successful, a fresh flock are about to be imported from M. D'Aaaailly's stock at Aureille.

A number of camels have been imported into Texas with a view to testing their use in the great American wastes : as yet, the experiment is pronounced very successful.

Melbourne was suffering in December from a glut of imports. Cork but- ter had been sold at 2tri. per pound. Several failures had occurred, arid more were expected. There had been a " run " on the Union Bank, appa- rently without the least ground having existed for alarm among depositors. The Times correspondent thinks the commercial depression will not be of

very long duration, from the great elasticity of the trade and the resources of the sorony. With reference to cases of alleged mutilation by the mutineers and Natives of India, the Times is requested to state that several members of the General Committee of the Mutiny Relief Fund have made careful in-• quiries, and have ascertained that no such cases have come down the Ganges in any of the vessels of the Inland Steam Navigation Company at Calcutta, nor have any come to England in any ship belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

An "Eye-Witness," writing to the Times on this disputed question of Sepoy atrocities, says—" I know two ladies and one child now in Eng- land: one lady has lost her nose and ears ; the other nose, ears, and lower lip ; the child is minus feet and hands. Can it be that these are the only sufferers ?"

It may be remembered that in the reports of Lord Shaftesbury's speech at Wimbourne, in October last, he was made to say that he had seen a letter from "the highest lady in India describing how ladies were day by day coming into Calcutta their ears and noses cut off and their eyes put out." As this was not in harmony with the result of recent inves- tigations, Lord Shaftesbury was challenged to explain. He states in a letter to the Times, that in correcting the proofs of his speech for publica- tion, he struck out the word " saw " and substituted" heard," and adds it should have been "heard of."

Signs of approaching political activity appeared on Saturday : the Vis- countess Palmerston. had a dinner-party, followed by an assembly; Lord Palmerston could not preside at his own table' being one of the Earl of Granville's guests at a Ministerial banquet held for the " pricking" of the Sheriffs. On Tuesday Lord Palmerston had a general dinner-party.

The Royal Engineers dined together at the Freemasons' Tavern on Mon- day; Sir John Burgoyne presiding. The Earl of Derby entertained a party of Peers on Wednesday at dinner.

Sir William D enison, the Governor of Victoria, has been gored in the thigh by a red deer kept in the domain of Government House. The wound was at first pronounced. dangerous ; but when the mail left the patient was recovering.

The Reverend Alfred Peache, Curate of Heckfield, Hants, has become one of the richest clergymen in the Church of England, by the recent demise of Mr. Peache, of Wimbledon. The late Mr. Peache was the architect of his own fortunes; and he built them so securely that he died worth 50,0001. a year. His son died before him ; and the Reverend Mr. Peache, appa- rently a distant relative, succeeds to the estate.

The Morning Post records two accidents that attended the embarkation of the Princess Royal. "As the Victoria and Albert moved astern in order to bring her head round, she drove on to the bowsprit of the Monkey tug-boat, which went through one of the large plate-glass windows of the saloon. This naturally drew the attention of those who were at the end of the pier, and they pressed forward, as did also the royal party on the gangway. Just at the same moment, one of the ferry steamers coming across the river narrowly escaped swamping two small beats full of passengers ; and having at the time some way upon her, she was unable to bring head round sufficiently sharp, and thus ran'her starboard paddle-box against the lighter, carrying -away a large portion of it with a great crash. This, of course, shook the pier and loosened the standards supporting the temporary gangway. The royal party fell back in alarm ; the Prince catching hold of his sons, and calling out, Where is George ?' meaning the Duke of Cambridge. Lord Alfred Paget also rushed forward, calling out, 'Where is the Prince ?' " A third accident occurred down the river : the Victoria and Albert fouled a bark and carried away its taffrail.

The Austrian authorities are behaving so well to the Venetians, in deepen- ing the principal canals, to allow of ships of great burden to enter the city, that the Trieste folks have become jealous, fearing that the Queen of the Adriatic may regain some portion of her ancient commercial grandeur. •

It is said that M. Duterte, a French engineer, has invented a plan for greatly cheapening the cost of locomotives in construction, and reducing the expenditure of fuel in working by one-half.

The return of the Registrar-General shows " a small increase on the rather high mortality" of the preceding week. The number of deaths last week was 1368, 24 above the preceding number, and 75 above the corrected average. The excess is due to the fatal character of the diseases in the organs of respiration.

One of the last survivors from the wreck of the Medea°, Captain Condein, died recently at La Tremblade. Captain Condein always evinced the strong- est dislike to allude to the horrors of the raft on which he was preserved.

A letter from an officer on board the Sappho, a vessel cruising off Western Africa, gives a stirring account of the rescue of a cargo of slaves. A slaver chased by the Sappho run ashore. The crew escaped, leaving the American colours flying. "Then we all beheld a dreadful scene : the slaves forced their way from below, jumped overboard, and soon disappeared in the rollers ; it was terrible to see them. Our officers and men, regardless of their own lives, pulled through the surf to leeward of the ship, but her heavy lurching for some time prevented their boarding ; when they suc- ceeded, the scene was horrifying,—the slaves still forcing their way up from the slave-decks with loud yells, running to and fro, and continuing to throw themselves overboard. All attempts to pacify them were useless ; force was necessary to drive them below until preparations could be made for their safety. We were told by one of the slaves who could speak Portu- guese, that they were told the English would cut all their throats. As soon as the boats could be attended to, the cutter was backed under the stern and a rope thrown her ; then three of the slaves were permitted up at a time and lowered into the boat, the whale-boat conveying them through the rollers to the large boat, and so on to the Sappho ; this continued until eight p. m. The surf increased, and it was impossible to save more that night ; 180 were rescued." A guard was left on board. The next day, in spite of the rollers, and a fire of musketry from the beach, the English saved 200 more. Then, burning the ship, they sailed away. The Negroes on board the Sappho suffered terribly. "As food and warmth restored them, in various ways they signified their sense of kindness. There was one poor creature with an infant at her breast, naked, cold, and exhausted, apparently dying ; a little wine was given:her, then some rice, which she forced from her own to her baby's mouth. A sheet was given to cover her ; she wrap- ped her baby in it, and pressed it to her heart with that look of maternal love which God has given to the dark as well as the pale-face race."

A curious method of being "very religious" has just been exhibited at the Court of Assizes of the AM. Rosalie Pollet was tried for arson and forgery. Rosalie was passionately devoted to a religious life, and would take the vows ; but you must pay even to be a nun. She entered a convent at Belley, giving as security a promissory note for 2600 francs, payable in three years which she represented to be the promise of her guardian : it was

' a forgery. 'She hoped that before payment should be required she would have been admitted a nun, and thus irrevocably devoted to the service of religion. But the worldly convent authorities intended to have the money before they took, the encumbrance. Fearing that she would be dismissed the convent, the young woman resolved upon the odd alternative of burning it down to prevent expulsion ; and she repeatedly attempted to set it on fire, but the building was not destroyed. When suspected as the incendiary, Rosalie confessed her guilt. An attempt was made to show that she was partially deranged in her miud. She was convicted, and sentenced to five years' hard labour.