sitions. The result, therefore, of this inquiry, affords even less information on the subject, than that which is contained in the statements originally transmitted to head-quarters, and their correctness in consequence still remains questionable.

Although the depositions of the witnesses and the discrepancies in their testimony, are alone sufficient to evince that many of the alleged grievances have been, if not entirely unfounded, at least greatly exaggerated, for some of the circumstances stated are too improbable to deserve credit unless supported by the strongest proof; yet, at the same time, the whole of these documents afford strong presumptions that the discontent and subsequent unsoldier-like conduct in the 3d regiment proceeded from the professional incapacity of the commanding officer and the undue severity of the adjutant. The former, Capt. Canning, is likewise responsible for the unusual punishments which he sanctioned in the regiment, according to his own statement, and to the proof furnished by the numerous proceedings of regimental courts-martial.

That, also, Lieut. Johnson should so far have forgotten what was due to the service, in having adopted so vexatious and harassing a system, and for having interfered so improperly with the habits of the men, no excuse can be found.

'An attentive perusal of the proceedings of twenty courts-martial holden in the 3d regiment, between the 13th of March and 16th of August last, has moreover proved to the Commander-in-Chief that in several instances, the usual practice has been infringed, and the express regulations of the army, as contained in the military code, completely disregarded. For it is most particularly ordered, that the superintending officer and interpreter shall not be the same person; and yet in no less than on four occasions, it appears that the same officer acted in both capacities. It is likewise laid down that courts-martial ought to award no unusual punishment, except when the circumstances of a particular case may imperiously require it; but his Excellency is not aware that any circumstances can warrant the sentencing a prisoner to receive a corporal punishment on his bare posteriors,' as awarded in two instances. The sentencing also a prisoner to be 'drummed out of his regiment,' is perfectly unusual, except in the case of his being convicted of some unsoldier-like and disgraceful offence; and consequently the awarding of such a penalty, as has been done in no less than five instances, on conviction of merely being absent without leave, is not only contrary to the established practice, but totally ineffectual as a punishment, as it actually gives effect to the prisoner's wish of leaving the regiment.

It is not, however, by their irregularities that these proceedings are so much distinguished, as by their exhibiting a view of the interior economy of the regiment, which is highly discreditable and reprehensible. For under a better system, it is not likely that the offences investigated would have occurred, and particularly that it should have been necessary to bring so many non-commissioned officers and drill-masters in so short a time to trial for neglect of duty, disobedience of orders, and taking bribes. The convictions, however, in these instances, with one or two exceptions, appear to have been in conformity to the evidence adduced, and the irregularities committed by the several courts-martial have most probably been occasioned by their being allowed to pass always unnoticed by the commanding officer of the regiment.

'Judging, therefore, from the circumstances which have been substantiated, the Commander-in-Chief is compelled to pronounce that they exhibit a state of indiscipline which his Excellency believes to be unprecedented in the service. To the neglect and incapacity of Captain Canning, of course, the blame is mainly to be attributed; and as he has thus proved himself to be quite unfitted to the active and proper discharge of his duty, it will be recommended to Government to transfer him accordingly to the invalid establishment.

'With regard to Lieutenant Johnson, who has already been justly removed from the situation of Adjutant for his misconduct, his Excellency trusts that this penalty will operate as a sufficient warning to induce him to behave in future with more becoming consideration towards the feelings and habits of the men with whom he is destined to serve; and if ever he expects to render himself again worthy of the favourable notice of his superiors, he may rest assured that any

undue severity in the discharge of his duty will not constitute the grounds of recommendation. In the mean time, he is directed to join and do duty with the 2d European regiment until further orders.

"The Commander-in-Chief has already caused to be signified by the officer commanding in Cutch, his high displeasure at the conduct of the 3d regiment N. I. for the very unmilitary act of which the men have been guilty, in disobeying the orders given to them on parade, and for not following the rules laid down for bringing complaints to the notice of their superior officer. Had the established course been pursued in the present instance, it could not have failed in producing for the men of the 3d regiment every justice they were individually entitled to, and would have prevented the stain they have collectively brought upon themselves by their unsoldier-like behaviour.

'Although it would seem that the regiment had considerable cause for complaint, and might have been restrained or intimidated by fear, from making a proper appeal for redress, the Commander-in-Chief is of opinion that discontent among the men could never have risen to such a height, had the Native commissioned and non-commissioned officers done their duty; and that owing to the close intercourse and intimacy which existed between the several ranks, the two former grades could hardly be ignorant of the feeling which must have prevailed for some time among the sepoys, and it was their duty to have reported immediately any discontent which manifested itself, to the European officers of their companies.

The Commander-in-Chief, therefore, desires that it may be explained to the Native officers of this army, and more particularly to those of the 3d regiment, that it is their bounden duty to know the characters, habits, views, and also the real grievances (if any do exist) of the men of their respective corps; and that should hereafter any manifestation of neglect, or indifference to so essential a part of their duty, be at any time reported to head-quarters, they will be held responsible for so flagrant a breach of discipline, and the most serious notice taken of their conduct,

The above order is to be read at the head of every Native regiment in the service, on three successive parades, and duly explained to the Native officers and men by the respective interpreters.'

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

We detailed in our last Number the principal events connected with the recent history of this colony, and the tyrannical measures pursued for the suppression of the 'South African Commercial Advertiser,' at that place. We regret to see the Session of Parliament pass away without an attempt, at least, to institute a distinct and separate inquiry into this particular act-than which nothing can be imagined more flagrantly oppressive or unjust. Mr. Fairbairn, the Editor of that paper, is, we learn, arrived in England, and intends to pursue such measures as may be practicable to obtain redress: and really, every man who is a sincere friend to freedom, or an enemy to despotism-whether in the East or the West, (for the distinction between the good and evil of free discussion according to the latitude and longitude of the particular spot in which it may be exercised, is as pernicious as it is absurd,)—ought to assist this gentleman, to the utmost of his power, in obtaining justice from his oppressors. theCourier' or the 'Morning Chronicle' were to be suppressed by Ministers here, all Europe would be made to ring with denunciations of vengeance for months in succession. When even the types of the English 'John Bull' were put in sequestration for fines levied after a trial at law, and the verdict of a jury, what an outcry was raised in

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all quarters against such an invasion of liberty and property! twenty papers may be suppressed in India, in New South Wales, in Demerara, at the Cape, and the patriotic press of England is nearly silent on this occasion; while, if the subject be mentioned in the Senate of this free nation, (as was the case with respect to Mr. Fairbairn's paper, when Mr. Baring recently presented a petition from certain inhabitants of the Cape,) scarcely a solitary hear is uttered by any one so little does such an act of oppression excite astonishment or abhorrence in the great assembly which we are taught to look up to as the guardians of our liberties at home and abroad!

The 'Times,' from some secret motive, not easily to be even conjectured, though evincing a coldness and indifference towards the destruction of a Free Press in India, which has deprived the advocates of that cause of its assistance in moments when its advocacy might have been most valuable, is nevertheless most keenly alive to the destruction of a Free Press at the Cape of Good Hope, and has laboured on the exposure of oppression in that colony with a zeal unsurpassed by any of its contemporaries. Supposing its editors (for we understand there are several exercising nearly equal controul) to think the Caffers, the Boschmans, and the Hottentots, who may equal, together, about half a million within this colony' of the Cape, to be much greater in the scale of politics or civilization than the hundred millions of Hindoos, Parsees, and Mohammedans subject to our rule and influence in India: still, when the extent of its territories, the number of its cities-the nature and abundance of its produce the magnitude of its fleets-the universal range of its commerce-the strength of its army-the importance of its civil service the amount of its revenue-the character of its inhabitants -and the general intelligence and wealth of the English institutions scattered over its surface be considered, INDIA must surely be thought to be not inferior in importance to the colony of the Cape of Good Hope: and yet, if the efforts made by the Times' to advocate the cause of free discussion and good government in each of these dependencies of England, were to be taken as a criterion of the relative importance of the two countries in its estimation, INDIA would appear small enough to be compressed within a nut-shell, while the Cape would seem to be not merely a mere speck at the extremity of a great continent, but a country spread over a larger space than the whole of Africa itself.

Still, however, though the Times' is not much moved by the cruelty and oppression of first banishing an English editor, then destroying all his property, and, lastly, fettering every Press in India; let us applaud its zeal when it is moved by injuries of the same nature, though to a much inferior extent, at the Cape of Good Hope and in this spirit, we willingly praise the just and well-timed observations which, during the past month, it has made on the subject of misgovernment in that colony, and sincerely hope they may have influence in higher quarters.

NATIVE INDIAN CHARITY.

In a late Bombay Paper, the Bombay Gazette, of January 10, 1827, we perceive an announcement placed among the advertisements, stating, that the nephew of Amerchund Bunderchund, the eminent shroff, or banker, whose property was seized at Poonah, (as described in the second article of this Number, in the judgments delivered in the Supreme Court at Bombay,) and who did not live to see a decree for its restoration, had, in accordance with the charitable sentiments of his highly-respected uncle, obtained the liberation of all the prisoners, confined in the prisons of Bombay for debt, by paying, on their account, the whole of the debts for which they were confined, and setting them at liberty. If any European gentleman had done half as much, the English newspapers, in India, would have had their columns filled with his praise; but this act of benevolence being done by a Native, the very announcement can only find its way into the paper as a paid advertisement; and, as far as we can discover, not a line appears in the same paper, on the subject, from the pen of the editor!

GOVERNOR-GENERAL.

The last accounts from the camp of the Governor-General left his Lordship and suite at Paladpore; the Governor-General reviewed Colonel Gardner's horse, and expressed himself highly pleased with the novel sight he had witnessed, in the evolutions and feats performed by this distinguished body of cavalry. At Agra Lord Amherst and family took up their residence at the house of Mr. G. Saunders, and were entertained in the most hospitable manner by the worthy host and amiable hostess. The Taj was visited by the Governor-General on the evening of the day on which he arrived at Agra; and a levee and drawing-room held on the following morning at Mr. Saunders's house. At the native Durbar, also held by his Lordship, a nephew of Holkar, and several chiefs of Malwa, were introduced and tendered their nuzzer to the Governor-General. Secondra was next visited by his Lordship; and on the 15th, Hindee Rao, the brother-in-law of Scindia, arrived from Gualior at the head of a splendid mission. The appearance of this chief, who came as an envoy from Scindia, was singular and picturesque; and the variety. of warlike costumes in which his attendants appeared is represented as rendering the scene altogether unique. Another visit to the Taj to enjoy the view of beauties and grandeur by moonlight crowned the amusements of the 12th. On the 15th, Lady Amherst held a drawing-room, at which a deputation of eight Mahratta ladies were received, who had been sent to wait on her ladyship by her Highness the Bazcea Baee, with complimentary messages and presents. The male part of his Lordship's suite was excluded from this drawingroom, with the novelty and splendour of which it is said the Native ladies were much surprised and delighted.

On the 19th January, his Lordship reached Futtypore Sikri, where he was joined by the political resident of Rajpootana, Sir Charles

Metcalf, Bart. At this place the Governor-General received and returned the visit of the Ranee of Dholigion, who had come from the banks of the Chumbul to pay his respects to his Lordship.

Near Bhurtpore, the Governor-General was met by the young Rajah, Bulwunt Singh, attended by a numerous and handsome retinue. The Rajah visited his Lordship on his arriving at his tents; and in the evening of the same day, the Governor-General and suite were entertained at dinner by Major Lockett, the political agent at Bhurtpore. On the following day, a grand entertainment was given at the palace to the Governor-General and suite, when the streets of Bhurtpore were brilliantly illuminated, and the peaceful salute in honour of his Lordship was exchanged for the warlike cannonade which, but a few months ago resounded from the battlements of this fortress. The entertainments were conducted in great style; and nearly sixty English gentlemen and ladies sat down to it. The presence of the Maharajah at the festive board, seated between Lord and Lady Amherst, while his regent ministers supported the political agent, gave a friendly aspect to the scene, prophetic we hope of the harmony and peace that are long to distinguish our intercourse with the native states of Upper India.

On the 26th, the Governor-General entertained the Maharajah and his ministers at a dinner given in his tents, when Bulwunt Singh went through the ceremony of taking leave of the Governor-General. On the 30th, his Lordship left Bhurtpore, and was to proceed to Muttra, via Cumbheer, Deeg, and Goverdhun.-Oriental Observer. NATIVE SCHOOLS AT BOMBAY,

At the annual general meeting of the Bombay Native School Book and School Society, held in its buildings on Saturday 20th January 1827, the Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone, Governor of Bombay, and President of the Society, in the chair.

The Report of the Committee having been read by the Secretary, Capt. G. Jervis, it was, on the motion of Kaikhoosro Sorabjee, seconded by Cursetjee Manikjee, resolved unanimously,

That the Report which has been read be received and printed, under the direction of the Committee.

Framjee Cowasjee then rose, and addressed the meeting in the following terms:

'Gentlemen, I desire to propose that the sincerest thanks of the meeting be given to the honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone, Governor of Bombay and the President of the Society, for his persevering attention to the interests of this Institution. Heartily desiring as I do, in common with all of my tribe in India, to acquire the fruits of a liberal and enlightened education, it is with a delight which we are at a loss how to express in adequate terms, that we behold a scene, to which, until of late years, we have been so little accustomed, as the chief Member of the Government condescending to come amongst us, and to devote a portion of his valuable time and varied talents to the establishment and promotion of plans