236 Postscript to Asiatic Intelligence. inscriptions, and has been so fortunate as By the special appointment of the From The zemindars, or landholders, have at length formed a society in Calcutta, the main object of which is to stave off the presumption of rent-free lands, held under rotten tenures, now so vigorously in progress. Mr. Hurry and Mr. G. Prinsep have joined it, and are among the most It has held seveactive of its members. ral meetings, at which new members have been received from various parts of the country. Committees of correspondence have likewise been appointed, and the country divided into districts. It is a well organized plan, and may be produc- return, may undertake to advocate it for to The prime minister of Oude is deadof course, by poison. He was the nominee of the British authorities; a man of very moderate talents, who had worked his way up from a very inferior situation by dint of assiduity. He is said never to have had the confidence of the reigning king; because he was considered as having been forced on the country by our influence. He is succeeded by the nephew of the late minister, Mendy Ally Khan; and if we are to judge from public report, he is a general favourite. His uncle was, without question, the first native statesman in India, and a portion of his talent may have descended to the nephew. The eccentric Dr. Robert Tytler is dead. His last whim was a conviction that he had discovered the magnetic pole at Gualior, and he was on his way to that place to verify his hypothesis, when he was taken ill in his palanquin, and went Notwithstanding off rather suddenly. his nonsense, he was a shrewd man, and the whole family was highly gifted. It is altogether extinct in India. His sister, who made those admirable models which are in the Asiatic Society's museum, and his brother, the truly learned John Tytler, both have been cut down by the hand of death in a very brief period. The intelligence which we have just received by the Atalanta, is the quickest which has ever reached India. London news to the 5th of March reached Bombay in forty-three days, and Calcutta in fifty-six days. How easily might the communication between Calcutta and London be fixed at fifty days! But our prospects are not altogether so bright. The Hugh Lindsay is laid up for repairs, which the authorities say will require two months, but which the Bombay papers say might be accomplished, with ordinary diligence, in two or three weeks. The Semiramis, which has at length arrived at Bombay, after a passage of three months and a half from England, is said to be out of order. The remedy against all such accidents is very clearly and disinterestedly described in the Bombay papers, to consist in building the ships at the port from which they are to start: and as they are never to start, according to Bombay wishes, from any other port than Bombay, this is a broad hint that they ought If the Semiramis had to be built there. been built at Bombay, her boilers would not have required the tedious tinkering So two out of of a month or six weeks. our four vessels are to be laid up; and the communication, now become, not a luxury, but a necessary of life, must be sustained by two vessels alone, the Berenice and Atalanta. With a view to the improvement of the police, Government lately appointed a committee in Calcutta to sit and examine evidence, on the plan adopted in Parliamentary Committees. They have thus obtained a mass of very valuable information. Portions of the evidence have been given in the Courier. Old Mr. Blacquiere, the father of the bench of magistrates, stated in his evidence, that no East-Indian was fit to be employed as a magistrate; and this has brought down upon his head, as might have been expected, a shower of vituperation. Dwarkanauth Tagore was one of the witnesses examined; and his testimony to the inefficiency of the police is calculated to make a deep impression. It is said that Government have determined to appoint joint magistrates (not covenanted servants), at Rs. 500 a month, and superintendents of police at Rs. 800. This is as it should be; only they must be a little more select in the police department, than they were when they lately gave away, in so whimsical a manner, the situation of first assistant to the new superintendent of police. Among the minor movements, we have the transfer of the Agra Press to a native, which has possibly some connection with the prosecution of Mr. Tandy, by Capt. Macnaghten, in the Supreme Court. Also, Mr. W. Rushton, the right-hand of the Englishman, has set up for himself as printer, publisher and stationer. Mr. Rushton is the republisher of popular works of which the copyright has not expired in England, and of which the copyright is supposed not to extend to India. Commercial Advertiser, which has hitherto contained only advertisements and selections from other papers, has now taken its place among our daily papers. It has a circulation of more than five hundred. The new editor is a man of unexceptionable character. (From another Correspondent.) The This season still continues very unpromising-little or no rain, and the deaths from starvation are so numerous, that at Cawnpore, Shahjehanpore, Agra, and other stations, to which the poor have crowded, establishments have been hired, and are incessantly employed in removing, burying, or burning the corpses. The number of paupers relieved at Agra is on an average 3,500 daily, and this has been the case for the last two or three months. The famine relief fund continues happily to increase, and the river at Agra has lately risen three Asiat. Journ. N.S. VOL. 26. No.104. feet, and washed away the numerous dead bodies which choked its former shallow channels and rendered the water unfit for use. The sudden rise of the river injured the bridge of boats at that station. The Governor-general continues to enjoy his accustomed good health at Simla, and is to be seen daily riding out with one or other of his sisters, astonishing the natives with his plain and unostentatious habit of going abroad. The Misses Eden appear to like the climate and scenery of the place, and an improvement seems to have taken place in the health of the elder of the two ladies, who looked extremely delicate on her arrival here. From the number of additional buildings in progress of erection about his lordship's estate, people infer that it is his intention to return here next spring; but nothing is yet certain on this head. Sir Henry Fane is said to have tendered his resignation, and to have requested that his successor might be sent out so as to admit of his leaving India in January or February next. A deputation from the Maharaja Runjeet Sing to the Governor-general has arrived at Simla. His lordship and the to meet at Ferozepore, maharaja are or some other convenient spot on the banks of the Sutlege, in the ensuing cold season. A deputation from the Governor-general, consisting of Mr. W. Macnaghten, Dr. borne, and some other gentlemen of his Drummond, Captain the Hon. W. G. Oslordship's suite, were about to leave Simla for Lahore or Umritsir. The influenza has visited Simla, as well as most other parts of Upper India, during the past month, but in a milder form than it assumed in the lower regions; it has now disappeared. Some Madras papers to the middle of May have reached us since the Asiatic Intelligence was put to press; but their contents are unimportant. The Governor had left Madras for Palmanair, on his way to Bangalore or the Neilgherries. The subscription for the Agra sufferers had reached a considerable sum; Lord Elphinstone had subscribed Rs. 1,000. Complaints are made, on native authority, of the oppression exercised over the people in the Nizam's territories by the prime minister, Chundoo Loll, which, it is alleged, is encouraged by British landed proprietors, who rent extensive talooks discussion of local affairs, and to furnishing information regarding the trade of the settlement and proceedings of its local courts. In the Supreme Court at Madras, on the 4th May, the Court met to assess damages in an action for libel, “C. Armoogum Moodelliar v. Peter de Celes." The plaintiff was the late head manager and book-keeper of the Accountant-general's office; the defendant the proprietor of the Examiner newspaper, in which the libel appeared. The defendant put in pleas of justification of the whole of the alleged libellous matter, to which the plaintiff demurred, and obtained judgment in his favour. The two judges differed in opinion. Sir Edward Gambier was of opinion, that the plaintiff had no right to more than nominal damages; he might have joined issue on the pleas of justification, which were just sufficiently defective in point of law to entitle the defendant to judgment on demurrer. The Chief Justice, Sir R. Comyn, was of opinion that the plaintiff was entitled to very considerable damages. "Here were a series of libels, each one more atrocious and abominable than the other, the object being to bring a respectable native into contempt and ridicule. Amongst other things, his laudable ambition of being placed upon the grand jury, and becoming a justice of the peace, could not escape the ribaldry and malice of the author of those letters, which contained the most infamous statements, and wound up with a false charge of murder. He considered the letters a disgrace to the writer, who had for months held a sword over the head of this unfortunate plaintiff, and in one of the libels threatened him with a great gun which was about to go off. It had gone off; and let the defendant now pay for the explosion." He gave a verdict for the plaintiff, with Rs. 5,000 damages and costs. Extract from a letter from Kutch:"Lieut. Pottinger, who has been travelling in Afghanistan, reached Herat while Kamdan Shah was preparing to oppose the invasion of the Persians. For a short time he passed himself off as an Indian horse-dealer; but at length he was induced to make himself known to the authorities. The wuzeer treated him with great civility, but would not allow him to leave the city. He has, therefore, been detained there since November, and an idle spectator of the siege, except that he instructed the Heratees in strengthening their works. His letter to me is dated the 4th Feb.-Accounts have been received here up to the 12th. He writes: My views, since I commenced this letter, are greatly changed-I am a prisoner here till the siege is over. The siege is a most lamentable affair; the unfortunate town's-people are screwed to the uttermost. To those of the better class, torture is applied, to extract their money; while the poor are driven to the fortifications, and forced to work without the slightest remuneration. Not an Affghan will even touch a spade, or bring water for himself. The Persians get on very slowly; indeed, now they are at a standstill; all their efforts to advance have been checked, and their ordnance ammunition is run so very low that they have almost ceased to fire. The Affghans are, however, too weak to take advantage by a sortie in the day, and have not skill enough to manage one by night. If even the Persians continue another month before the city, and then retreat, there will be a famine here, so you may guess what hardships their stay will give rise to.' "Since I received this, Pottinger has been into Mahomed Shah's camp, and it is now generally thought that the Persians must raise the siege. The fall of Herat would flood Khorasan and Afghanistan with Persian and Russian influence, and it is to be hoped the people will hold out." The latest intelligence from Burmah, adds nothing to our knowledge of the intentions of the new King. It is said that he is content, for the present, that things should remain as they are; having banished the British resident from his Court, and refused to recognize the treaty of Yandaboo. His nobles are understood to be more inclined for war than he is. The troops despatched from Madras to Moulmein are merely intended to guard the frontier, and keep an imposing force there, which may overawe the Burmese. If it be true, that the Governor-General had written to the King, requiring his fulfilment of the treaty, and that the King directed that whatever communications his Lordship had to make, should be conveyed through the governor of Rangoon, the state of relations is far from satisfactory. On the other hand, the officers deputed to Martaban, to inquire into the outrages committed on the frontier of the British provinces, are conciliatory in their demeanour, and promise fairly. A letter from Amerapoora, states that his Majesty declares it to be his intention, in the event of being attacked by the English, to fight to the last extremity, after which he will destroy every village, and retire into China or elsewhere. Calcutta. REGISTER. GOVERNMENT ORDERS, &c. INATTENTION OF QUEEN'S OFFICERS. Head-Quarters, Simla, March 22, 1838. -A report having been made to the Commander-in-chief, that several officers, absent from their corps at Calcutta, have lately quitted the presidency for the Upper Provinces-some for England-and that others have changed their quarters without making the required report to the brigademajor Queen's troops, his Exc. is pleased to call the attention of all officers to the G.Os. of the 13th June 1816 and 10th June 1826; and to desire it may be made known, that he will take serious notice of the next case of inattention to these orders which is reported to him. NATIVE SOLDIERS RETURNING FROM FURLOUGH. Head-Quarters, Simla, March 23, 1838. -His Exc. the Commander-in-chief having had under his consideration the weakly and reduced state in which native soldiers are reported to reach their regiments at the head-quarters of the Rajpootanah, Meywar, and Malwah field forces, on their return from furlough, occasioned by their protracting their stay at their homes until it is rendered difficult for them, except by the greatest possible exertion, to rejoin their regiments before the termination of their leave of absence, and being desirous of applying a remedy to this evil, is pleased to direct that, previous to the departure of their men on furlough, the officers com. manding regiments at Nusseerabad, Neemuch, and Mhow, shall warn them to leave their homes so as to admit of those for Mhow reaching Agra by the 3d of October, those for Neemuch by the 10th, and those for Nusseerabad by the 21st of that month. 2. The men, as they arrive at Agra, will report themselves to the brigademajor, who, under the orders of the brigadier commandant, will provide tents for their accommodation, so long as they may remain at that station. 3. The Mhow party will proceed on the 5th October, under the senior native commissioned officer, by the regular marches; and the parties for Neemuch and Nusseerabad will move on the 12th and 23d of that month respectively. 4. The brigade-major at Agra will furnish the native officers commanding parties with routes; and will make the necessary communications to the officers of the poli tical department, to ensure supplies being provided for the men at the different stages. 5. The superintending surgeon of the Agra circle will make such arrangements as will enable him to hold a native doctor available to proceed with each party, supplied with such medicines as may be thought necessary; and on the arrival of diers commanding the field forces will inthe men at their destinations, the brigaformation, the state in which they may spect and report, for his Excellency's infind them. required to notice, as a disobedience of 6. Officers commanding regiments are orders, any instance in which a soldier may fail to join at Agra in time to move with the party to which he may belong. 7. Commanding officers of corps from which men are about to proceed on leave, are to take care that every one is made acquainted with the date on which he is required to quit his house, in order to reach Agra at the appointed time; and the calculation for this purpose is to be made as nearly as possible, so as to allow the individual one day for every sixteen miles from his home to the place of general rendezvous. 8. It is to be considered a general rule throughout the service, that men returning from furlough, who, from having overmarched themselves, arrive in a debilitated tal necessary, shall continue on the same state, rendering their admission into hospiallowances as if absent on leave, until they return to their duty perfectly reco vered. NEW MEDICAL CODE. Fort William, March 26, 1838.- The proved of a compilation of orders for the Hon, the President in Council having apconduct of the medical department of the Bengal army, hereby establishes the same of all corps and departments to which it as a Code of Regulations for the guidance relates. pleased to annul and to declare to be abThe Hon, the President in Council is rogated, from and after the 30th April next, all existing regulations militating against any part of the code now established. MEDICAL ETIQUETTE. Head-Quarters, Simla, April 4, 1838.— An unfortunate occurrence at Deyrah, which took place in January last, in which the conduct of the medical officers at Mussoorie and Deyrah were implicated, has led to a voluminous correspondence being laid before the Commander-in-chief. In that correspondence is an official letter from Lieut.-Col. Young, conveying the sentiment following, as from the medical officer at Deyrah : "He has no objection to attend A, or any other patient of B's (the medical officer at Mussoorie), under the customary rules of etiquette; but it is usual on such occasions for the medical adviser in attendance on the patient to call in further aid himself, should the case demand it; as no request, coming from friends, can be attended to, without the probability of giving offence." The doctrine, based on medical etiquette, that the friends of an invalid calling on a medical officer for the aid of his skill, cannot be attended to by an officer of the Hon. Company's service, unless called on through the medical officer (with whose practice, or success, those friends are perhaps dissatisfied), appeared to the Commander-in-chief to be opposed to reason and sense. He therefore caused reference to be made to the Medical Board, for their sentiments on the case. The following paragraph, in the reply of the Medical Board, accords exactly with his Excellency's opinions; and he publishes it, for the future guidance of medical officers, and for the special attention of those who were parties in the transaction under consideration. "If the word 'etiquette' imply only complimentary ceremony or forms of intercourse, it has on this occasion been very improperly used by medical officers, with reference to the serious duties of their profession, which demand that the welfare of a patient should ever be paramount to all ordinary feelings and considerations." His Excellency directs, that the latter part of this quoted paragraph may be carefully attended to; and that "rules of etiquette" may not again be advanced in extenuation of any medical neglect. CHANGE IN DRESS. Head- Quarters, Simla, April 5, 1838. -In promulgating to the army the following extract of a military letter from the Hon. the Court of Directors, dated 20th Dec. 1837, his Exc. the Commander-inchief directs the strictest conformity to the changes in dress therein anthorized: 8. "We authorize the use of the gold strap on the shoulder of the blue frockcoat, for officers of infantry, as recently introduced into her Majesty's service. 9. "The introduction of the blue frockcoat for native officers, and of gaiters for the sepoys, we are of opinion, would entail an unnecessary expense upon the troops, and we desire, that the use of these articles be forbidden accordingly." A description of the shoulder-strap now sanctioned is subjoined for general guid ance. Shoulder-straps-blue cloth, faced round with lace of the established regimental pattern, with metal crescent; the strap to be attached to the coat by brass tongue and gold lace binder. The different ranks of field officers to be distinguished by the crown and star. Officers of grenadier companies to have a silver grenade within the crescent; officers of light infantry companies to have the bugle within the crescent. SOLDIERS' LIBRARIES. Head-Quarters, Simla, April 5, 1838. -Under instructions from Government, his Exc. the Commander-in-chief is pleased to direct officers commanding European corps and detachments, in which "soldiers' libraries" have been established, to forward annually to the adjutant-general of the army, on the 1st July, a report on the state of their respective libraries, for communication to the Hon. the Court of Directors; and they are required, at the same time, to state what advantages may appear to them to have attended their institution. COMFORTS FOR SOLDIERS ON BOARD TRANSPORTS. Head- Quarters, Simla, April 5, 1838. -Serious neglects, or omissions, having occurred on the embarkation of H.M. 11th Light Dragoons, and the invalids of the season 1837, at Calcutta, his Exc. the Commander-in-chief directs attention to be paid to the 385th page of the Regulations and Orders of the Army, 1st June 1837, and to the following pages to 406. His Exc. orders that all parts of those Regulations which are capable of being applied to her Majesty's troops arriving at, or departing from, any port in the East-Indies, may be so applied as they would be "in any port of the United Kingdom." It appears to have been a practice in Calcutta to make the inspection of the "medical comforts" for the use of sick and convalescent soldiers, at the stores of the Commissariat Department. This is forbid; and every article allowed to the soldiers, is to be inspected on board the transports; so that it may not again occur that ships go to sea without hammocks, or the comforts which are granted to the soldiers. ALLOWANCES OF QUEEN'S OFFICERS. Fort William, April 9, 1838.-The Hon. the President in Council is pleased to direct, that the allowances of officers of her Majesty's service removed from |