The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 16, 1864.

stud their rivals coming in with flying colours on
the spot which they might with acme good show of
reason have considered their lawful property, and
sure and certain to return them a supporter. If the
policy of the Cabinet is to be indubitably fixed to
the sketch which has been graphically drawn for
us in one House by Earl RUSSELL, and in the other
by Lord PALMERSTON, he need not be a renegade,
but a patriotic lover of his country, who will wish
that the example of Brighton may be widely fol-
lowed, and a sort of precedent thus established to
send to Parliament none but those who declare for the
true and tried policy which has always distinguished
our country, amid all the earthquakes and hurri-
canes that have upset thrones and dynasties
abroad—double-dealing will infallibly fail in poli-
tics, as in everything else in the long run. The
people of an intelligent and cultivated community
will inevitably inquire what is our object, and
whether are we tending. To such queries at pre-
sent the most unsatisfactory answers must begin.
The Government came in through a successful
dodge, and their sinuous policy has landed them at
last among doubts, dangers, and difficulties that
would be enough to appal the boldest, and affright
the bravest. Our foreign policy is a disgrace to us
at home, and of the most disastrous issue abroad;
our home tactics are to do nothing, and it is there-
fore no wonder that the inhabitants of an impor-
tant town should try a desperate remedy, and adopt
the expediency of selecting new men to see if such
an experiment can procure them better measures.
The decision at Brighton will doubtless influence
other constituencies whose members are not yet
returned, and if so the ranks of the Opposition will
present a most formidable phalanx when the day
comes for the tug of war. May they then be found
faithful to the principles they have professed,
stedfast in the spirit of nationality which now
animates them, and zealous to uphold the rights of
the country of whose honour they claim to be the
champions and defenders. There was an excellent
piece of advice offered to Ministers some time since
in a comic publication, and they had better take
heed to its counsel, for since then the clouds have
darkened, and all portend the coming necessity of
caution, which is implied in these words, " Against
the storm prepare."

The news brought from India by the latest mail
is not without interest, although it is less eventfu
than the intelligence of last month. There was
every reason when the mail left to conclude that the
worst of the frontier war was over, if not finally
concluded. The Bouairees, said to be the most dan-
gerous of our antagonists, had not only given up
the contest, but had sent a contingent of 2,000 men
to assist our forces in another quarter. General
CHAMBERLAIN had held the Umbeyla Pass, in spite
of all attempts to dislodge him, and the discourage-
ment of the tribes was complete. The Government,
warned by previous experience, determined to act
promptly at the first alarm, and at the first rumours
of war and disaffection despatched such strong rein-
forcements into the dangerous quarter that matters
were very soon settled. The arrival of Sir JOHN
LAWRENCE, which was looked for with the greatest
eagerness by all parties, will also by this time have
expedited a pacific arrangement. The Punjab is
the very quarter in which Sir JOHN LAWRENCE'S
capacities and experience will prove most valuable.
It is the scene of his former successes, and his cha-
racter and ability are known and appreciated by
the native chiefs. They will confide in his justice
and honour no less certainty than they will reckon
on his firmness, his energy, and his courage. The
man who held the reins of Government unshaken
through the terrible convulsions of 1857 may surely
be trusted to bring a mere frontier campaign
to a speedy conclusion. The first matter of regret
connected with this outbreak must, of course, be
the thought of the brave men and gallant officers
whose lives have been sacrificed in the struggle ;
bat the cost of the expedition is a serious weight on
the finances of a country like India. The expense
of the war will, it is said, be not less than a million
sterling. Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN will have good
reason to lament the restless pugnacity of the hill
tribes, which have added so large and unexpected
an item to the debtor side of his balance-sheet, just
when the financial prospects of India were doing so
much credit to his careful and judicious manage-
ment. Added to the demands made upon the Trea-
sury by military expenses, there is another financial
perplexity in the existence of a monetary crisis.
There is a heavy pressure upon silver, and this it
has been proposed to relieve by the introduction of
a subsidiary gold currency ; but Sir CHARLES THE
VELYAN, with the more enlightened views to be
expected from him, prefers to try the experiment
of making paper currency a legal tender beyond
Allahabad. Happily, there have as yet been no
considerable failures, and we must, therefore, hope

that the storm will blow over. The cotton interest
seems to bo happily exempt from the distress felt in
other quarters. The area under cultivation is
rapidly on the increase, having augmented nearly
one-half in the year in the North-Western
Provinces. With regard to matters of in-

,ernal legislation, India shows signs of

improvement. The Cnief Justice, Sir BOWES
PEACOCK, has addressed himself to the reform of

the civil courts. It seems that it had become too
much the fashion for our Judges in these courts to
aim at getting through the cases as rapidly as pos-
sible, hearing two or three suits at once, or rather
leaving► the hearing of the witnesses to clerks, and
only reading the depositions. Such laxity is now
at once put a stop to. It is required that the Judges
shall make a memorandum of each witness's evi-
dence, which they must sign ; they aro called upon
to attend punctually, and to devote their whole
attention to the business before them, being re-
minded, very justly, that " the character and merits
of a judge do not depend so much upon the number
of suits which he decides as upon the soundness and
accuracy of his decisions." This movement has taken

the Judges by surprise, but it is one that is of great
practical value, and is calculated to do a great deal
of good. One of our firmest holds upon the natives
is the equity and impartiality of our laws. The
Hindoos are naturally a litigious people, and no-
thing is more likely to incense them than any ap-
parent neglect of their law suits. The party against
whom the verdict goes will naturally say that the
Judge did not understand his case, and had
he had a fair hearing the result would
have been different. There is no practice,
save abso.ute bribery and corruption, more
inimical:to the interests of justice than a hurried or
imperfect hearing of cases, and if the custom of
hearing more than one cause at a time has really
prevailed to eny extent among our Anglo-Indian
judicial functionaries, the sooner it is put
a stop to by high authority thu better. The
Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal has meanwhile
been bestirring himself in a cause that will win
the sympathies of all persons of common humanity.
It appears that the atrocious custom of Suttee
has rot entirely died out in Bengal,
since very recently a most painful instance oc-
curred, in which the miserable victim, unable to
endure the torture, flung herself from the pile,
only to be driven back by the taunts and re-
proaches of tho bystanders. Hearing of the.e
circumstances the Lieutenant-Governor invoked
the aid of the British Indian Association to pre-

vent the recurrence of such horrible scenes. A
arge and influential meeting took place, which,
we are glad to find, was numerously attended by
eminent natives. One of these declared that the
Suttee was "a moat degrading custom, opposed
alike to the laws of GOD and man, and revolting
in the highest degree to human nature." It is
highly satisfactory to find a Hindoo speaking of
the practice in such strong terms. In Rajpootana,
when another case of suttee took place, the young
Rajah declared the village forfeited, and long terms
of imprisonment were inflicted on the principal
offenders. Such are among the happy effects of the
gradual diff ision of enlightenment and civilisation,
and encourage us in the hope of the future Chris-
tianising and civilising of India.

There could hardly be a more momentous epoch
for so many eleetions to take place. It seems as if
every possible coincidence had met to give excite-
ment to the opening of this session. Flushed with
the triumph which they lately achieved in Devon-
port, the Conservatives have resclved to try
another chance in that locality, and thus secure
the place for themselves. In pursaance of this
resolve, Mr. FLEMING has been down to address
the electors as a future candidate for that town in
the Conservative interest. His address was to the ,
point, and elicited much applause. He briefly
sketched his views with respect to tome matters,
and of course laid the greatest stress upon foreign
affairs. In referring to this subject, ho said that
he thought England was humiliated Jy the present
conduct of affairs. Mr. FLEMING declared his ideas
to be those of non-intervention, but not peace-at-
any-price notions. This is a very good definition ;
and if this line of demarcation were only fully and
faithfully kept, how different would be the aspect
of things at present. As it is, it may be said that
Earl RUSSELL pursues a totally different course,
for, instead of non-intervention, he meddles in every.
thing, makes suggestions which are never fol-
lowed, gives advice which is never heeded, and
then, when matters reach a crisis, fans back upon
the peace cry, and declines to do anything to assist
those whom our false professions of friendship
have drawn into trouble or to vindicate the honour
of our own country and protect the interests of our
subjects. All this false and fatal system of politics
was very fully exposed by Mr. FLEMING, and he
successfully depicted the anomalous position in
which we are now placed.
It is a pity
I that no well-wisher to the Government

lad the sense or the spirit to warn
them of the grievous mistake they were making in
allowing their opponents to gain such a vantage
ground, and possess such a handle agaisst them as
foreign politics. This weapon will be brandished
against them for a long while to come, and so long
as there is a remnant of the old spirit extant in
England, or a portion of ancient recollection in the
memory, the appeal will not be made in vain which
calls upon Englishmen to disclaim and disavow the
pernicious policy which is bringing our Govern-
ment into disrepute, and our national glory into
dishonour. Mr. FLEMING had plenty of material
upon which to draw for his strictures, and was
therefore able to present his hearers with no nig-
gard epitome of events. With Poland, where the
revolution had been needlessly encouraged, and dis-
patches written that were not acted upon in one

iota. With Denmark, whose very mention• is a
reproach to all connected with recent affairs, and
bids fair to remain a blut upon our national escut-
cheon if some prompt measures are not adopted to
retrieve our position, and to rectify past blunders ;
and with America, which subject is so rife with
questions of difficulty, in which our authorities
have so often lapsed from their duties, there was

every opportunity afforded to the speaker; and

while the Conservative candidates have so good a
case for their party, and can make out so damaging
a one for their opponents, they need never fear that
the constituencies throughout tha country will not
respond to them with heartfelt sympathy, and sup-
port them in word and deed.

Thackeray and Knowles,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE kIIN.

Sin,—Mr. Anthony Trollope, in his tscellent notice of
Thackeray, in the Cornhill Magazine fa this month, con-
cludes as follows :—"lt is to be regarded s a thing of course,
that there should be a bust of Thackeny in 'Westminster
Abbey." If a memento of Thackeray '8 to be placed in
that shrine, in which we keep the mmunaents of our
great men, surely a niche in that gloricus temple should
be assigned to Sheridan Knowles (" Frin's own Shaks-
pore "), who was pre-eminently superior b all tho writers
of the laet two centuries, one who, as Bulwer Lytton
has justly and nobly said, "forms an Reba], living, and
imperishable feature in the loftier literatne of his time."
Hoping you may find space for the above in your valu-
able journal,--I remain, &c.
SHERIDAN Mus?B.A.TT, M.D.
College of Chemistry, Liverpool,
February, 1864.

THE NEW STATUTE;,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Stu,—ln recent numbers of The Sun you aave congra-
tulated the country upon the proposed new lays connected
with social matters, including the new Lunacy Bill, which
has been introduced to the House of Commons by Sir
George Grey, and which, it appears, has ben favourably
received by the house. A few months since I applied to a
legal friend to ascertain whether he thought it probable the
Legislature would settle the law respecting astrological
practice, mentioned in my various works and letters upon
this subject, during the last 10 or 12 years iz The Sun
newspaper, and otherwise, and respecting which matter, as
I have elsewhere shown, I have incurred much trouble, loss
of time, inconvenience, and expense. My corraspoadent
stated that everything respecting reform was et a stand-
still, consequently the hope of any alteration or legal inter-
ference was distant, in his opinion, notwithstanding past
hints and promises to the contrary. As, however, the
Legislature has interfered in the case above referred to,
possibly, also, some alteration may be really cont roplated
respecting the old grieNance, which I have brought to your
notice with respect to Copestick, and other astrological
students. Can any of your readers give me information
upon this point? and so oblige yours obediently.
CIIR. C °ORE.

Braunton, Devon. 14th, Feb., 1864.
N B.—See The Sun 19th January, 1852 ; 14th February,
1856; 21st March, 1862; and Bth September, 1863, for
particulars.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

LREIITER'S TELEGRAMS.]

AMERICA.

(Per the City of New York, via Roche's Point.)
NEW YORK, FEB. 6 (Morning).
The Confederates have been driven back in
Western Virginia, and have retreated from before
Newbern, North Carolina. Southern advices report
that the Federals have been repulsed in East Ten-

THE PLOT AGAINST THE EMPEROR.
PARIS, FEB. 16.

The legal papers of to-day state that an order
has been issued by the Chambre de Mises en Accu-
sation, sending the case of Mazzini and the four
Italians before the Court of Assizes of the Depart-
ment of the Seine upon the charge of conspiracy
against the life of the Emperor.
The case will probably come on for hearing on
the 25th inst.

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG.

NANI3URG, FEB. 16.

Th© IVachrichten publishes advicas from Dune],
stating that the Ist Regiment of Danish Foot
sallied from their entrenchments and attacked two
Prussian batteries. The Danes are said to have
been almost destroyed.

VIENNA, FEB. 13.

The official Wiener Zeitung publishes a contra-
diction to the reply alleged to have been made by
General von Gablenz to a deputation from the town
of Schleswig. It declares that no deputation
waited upon the General during his stay in the
town.

Ten military surgeons have been sent hence to
bring back convoys of 'wounded to Austria. In
addition to the medical men attached to the corps
actually on service in Schleswig, 54 others are
employed in hospital duty.
HAMBURG, FEB. 13.

The Austrian Civil Commissioner, Count Rever-
ters, has passed through here upon his way to
Schleswig. The Prussian and Austrian Commis-
sioners will now probably take up their official resi-
dence in the town of Schleswig, as announced by
Baron von Zedlitz, The entirely German population
of that town will not be likely to carry out the expec-
tations expressed to the Flensburgers. The Danish
officials have already abandoned their posts, either
voluntarily or by compulsion, and unmistakeable
Schleswig-Holsteins have been instituted in their
stead by the citizens.

FLENSBURG. FEB. 16.
The Austrian and Prussian Commissioners have
left for Apenrade.
Prussian police have arrived from Berlin.
It is stated that the Austrians will occupy North
Schleswig, and the Prussians the South of the
Duchy.

Amtmann Thomsen, of Oldens worth, and the
President of Husum have been appointed heads of
administration in Bredstedt, Eiderstedt, Tonningen,
and Friederichstadt. They are empowered to
appoint and dismiss officials in:Schleswig, subject to
the approval of the Commissioners.

HAMBURG, Feb. 13.
Intelligence from a Danish source reports that
according to the statement of President Monrad,
the Government has determined to defend Duppel
and Alsen to the utmost.

Intelligence from Rendsburg of yesterday after-
noon reports a sharp engagement at Atzbull. The
Austrian soldiers decorated by General von Gablenz
left this morning, with 13 guns taken at Oversee,
for Vienna. 400 Danish prisoners were sent this
morning southward.

Nothing certain is known of the battle at Duppel.
COPENHAGEN, Feb. 9.

In addressing the Upper House of the Rigsdag
upon the position of Danmark, President Monrad
spoke as follows :--
"Gentlemen ! I trust that the attempts of foreign
journals to sow mistrust and suspicion in your
hearts will not succeed in creating distrust between
the King and his people. Our position, in truth,
is difficult enough, and we shall find defence suffi-
ciently arduous without this new difficulty being
raised.

" Our best military positions—Duppel and Alsen,
where we have all the same advantages the enemy
had in attacking the Dannewerke—are still ours.
Be assured, gentlemen, that we are steadily bent
upon defending ourse:ves to the uttermost. We
only ask of you and of the Danish people not to
abandon coolness and self-possession, even if we
should encounter further heavy loss.

'l,`" Depend upon it, gentlemen, if we are to issue
victorious from these trials, it can only be by en-
durance, by holding more and more firmly together
the harder we are tried by misfortune. So will it
come to pass that we shall fight with renewed
strength and vigour for the independence and
freedom of our country. This, gentlemen, is the
sense in which we must act. We must know how
to direct our whole energies to the defence of the
country. Nothing but a determined combination of
all of us can impart the requisite strength for op-
position ; nothing but a firm understanding between
King and people can enable us to meet the blow."
COPENHAGEN, Feb. 9, 1864.

At the sitting of the Rigsdag to-day both houses
unanimously adopted the following address to the
Danish army :
"The Dannevvirke has been abandoned !

" The Danish Rigsdeg has been painfully sur•
prised to learn this fact, but its trust in the future
is by no means weakened, nor will the army have

ost heart.

" The Danish army has been forced to evacuate
Holstein without striking a blow, exposed to the
scorn of the enemy and of the populace ; but during
its retreat it preserved the most perfect order and
dignified calmness. For nearly six weeks past it
has borne inclement weather, hardships and priva
tions, but nevertheless remained true to itself, and
looked forward with ardour to the day of battle,
Battle came. Every man did his duty in the en-
gagements which have occurred, and faced the
enemy with courage.

" The Danish Rigsdag thanks the Danish army.
" The Dannewirke has Leen abandoned, but the
Rigsdag will never lose confidence in its sons and
brothers, the living Dannewirke of our land. Long
live the army ! As soon as circumstances permit, it
will again go to the front, with God for King and
country ! We trust in the living God, we trust in
the spirit of the people, and we trust in the army,
over which this spirit soars.

"In so earnest a time the Rigsdag will not forget
its duty. It fulfils but a small part of that duty
when it sends a fraternal greeting to the valiant
army of the Danish land !"
President Monroe declared his pleasure that the
Address expressed no opinion upon the evacuation
of the Dannewirke. He agreed with the spirit it
displayed, and it was entirely in accordance with
the policy of the Government. With the evacua-
tion of the Dannewirke began the energetic con-
duct of the war.

FLENSBURG, FEB. 10.
The strong fortified position of Duppel, considered
by many equal to the Dannewirke, was formerly not
fortified at all. Now seven independent works upon
the crests of hills present a strong front towards
the west, and lean upon the Alsen Sund, at Suur-
likke, with the right wing, where they are flanked
by batteries upon Alsen ; with the left wing they
join the Venningbond or southern part of the bay.
The works are so constructed that they command
the whole approaches ,as far as Stenderup. Four
works are placed to the north of the road leading to
the mill
_of Duppel and then to the south. The
earthen ramparts are mostly 20 feet high ;
the moats 12 feet deep by 20 feet broad ;
the gorges of the bastions aro chiefly Pali-
saded. Several batteries armed with guns of the
heaviest calibre are placed between the works,
especially bet weeu the Duppel mill and the landing
place of Frendenthal on the Venningbord, situated
thatthe flanks are defended from the sea, and the
centre from the heights of Duppel. The Allsound
and Nubelnoer afford hostile gunboats ample oppor-
tunity of taking part in an engagement. The num
ber of creeks and landing places further enable an
enemy to land:his troops suddenly and unnoticed at
points from which they can make demonstrations
in the rear of the attacking party. Two tete& de-
pont serve to cover the paesage at Sonderburg, one
of which is a crown work. Several batteries are
placed upon the heights of the Alsen Coast.
The passage to the island of Aiwa is not more