The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-02 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1852,

Naturally enough; the Financial Reformers have
revived their very whialesome agitation immediately
upon the eve of the anxiously-expected occasion
when the Budget is to be formally submitted to
the House of Commons by the CHANCELLOR of
the EXCHEQUER. Yesterday, however, they re-
stricted their endeavours to the one important
purpose of insisting upon the total remission, or
at any rate upon the gradual reduction, of the
most unpopular and pernicious of all taxes—the
Taxes upon Knowledge. We could have -wished
for our part that the meeting held last evening,
in Exeter Hall, and presided over very efficiently
by Mr. DOUGLAS JERROLD, had been convened
somewhat earlier than the Ist of December. For
all practical purposes, we regret to think
that it must necessarily prove inoperative, in as
far as it could be supposed to affect in any
manner the anticipated financial statement of the
DERBY-DISRAELI Government. It cannot but be
obvious that the Budget for '52-53 has long since
been definitively arranged. Nothing can in any
way be insinuated so late as the eleventh-hour-
and-a-half as a practical improvement. It has
now only to be explained by the leader of the
Lower House of Parliament. Eagerly shall we
welcome in it any relaxation of the existing sys-
tem, so far as affects the wider diffusion of cheap
literature. Possibly Mr. DISRAELI may have re-
cognised the necessity of reforms in this direction.
A successful man of letters himself, he cannot be
blind to the inestimable value of knowledge to the
community, any more than he can be unconscious
of the barriers raised by the paper and other
duties in the way of its more extended dissemi-
nation. We shall see. Until to-morrow evening,
at least, let us hope. If by no more compre-
hensive innovation, much good might be effected
by, the mitigation of the' evils resulting from the
odious tax upon advertisements. Meanwhile—
whether we are waiting vainly or rationally for
the removal of these particular burthens from the
population—we cannot but be very materiallyserv-
ing the cause of financial improvement, by giving,
as we do elsewhere in our impression of this even-
ing, a report of the masterly speech delivered
yesterday by Mr. COBDEN on the subject of these
detestable and injurious Taxes upon Knowledge,

It seldom happens . that the career of a great
man can be authenticated, in all its more remark-
able incidents, upon oath, in the form of a regular
affidavit. Elsewhere, in our impression of this
evening, will be found, however, a document pre-
cisely of this character—a document of inestim-
able value, and of extraordinary importance, re-
lain'. g as it does to the principal occurrences in
the history of Sir CITARtrs NA PIER, the heroic
63nqueror of Scinde, renowned not less for • his
consummate ability as an Administrator than for
his
genius as a Generalissimo. It cannot but
have been Observed by the majority of the intelli-
gent
nent PLlAila_ taion that about a week since that emi-
crimir, R.,
.oPPlied. in the Queen's Bench for a
Quairt:ll;:liii
contaon against the publisher of the
nazasequence of an article contained
in the current
according to thepin 5
of that Review, calculated,
o
I,7shoif the applicant, to dis-
tort the judgments
ill
juresheionctei::::dhiuserariNesA,
pamnad
thereby seriously to
reputation. The
statements they© sworn to by gi
as evidence of the reasonableL
cisuaretcei,uaessta,
proved, nevertheless, altogetherE4B-°f
means for obtaining the consent of the LORD
CHIEF JUSTICE to the granting of
a rule f---
urinal prosecution. The application or a
was
unsuccessful—the rule was refused— entirely
ous article in the
the obno -
Quarte;-
last number of the
zir
was virtually declared, in the very teeth of thlie
hero of Scinde, in -spite of his manly appeal and
his explicit assertions, to be in no way whatever
either false or calumnious.

Cordially, indeed with the whole intensity of
our nature, do we accede to the wisdom, and the
justice, and the liberality, and the patriotism of
the sentiments expressed upon the occasion by
Lord CAMPBELL, in reference to the necessity of
maintaining intact the most perfect freedom of
Liberty to the Press. AS we are ourselves num-
bered in the ranks of journalism,
truth by we could •not in
any PossibilitY do otherwise—for in f"

now, for example, men who have risen, without

any very perceptible reason why, through every
grade of promotion with marvellous facility and
precision—men who have had coronets thrown to

them, while their superiors in genius, as well as in
achievements, have been sedulously precluded
from the opportunity of crossing the threshold of
the House of Peers—men who have leaped with

one eccentric summersault to the suprene rule of
an army, in which they would have been more
fitted to assume the part of Lieutenant than of
Commander. Sir CHARLES NAPIER is, perhaps,
in the whole range of our military annals, the
most brilliant contrast to this class of well-favoured
incapables. It has been his fortune to serve his
country by a series of resplendent and, in Some
respects, incomparable achievements. He has
added a vast and fruitful territory to the Oriental
dominions of the British SOVEREIGN. He not
only captured Scinde by his mingled prowess and
strategies, but, with the skill, of a diplomatist and
the intellectual grasp of a statesman, he bestowed
upon the vanquished province the blessings of a
strong and popular Government. Early in life he
was one of the most brilliant among the " young
Majors" of WELLINGTON. Later on, he carried his

sword, with increasing credit to himself and in•

creasing advantage to the public service, from

Spain to Cephalonia. He equalled the hroism of

CLIVE at Plassey, and of WEl;LlisrdioNi at Assaye,

when he crossed tlielnditg with a handful of Men;

and routed the enormous forces of his antagonise

at Meeauee. Such was :the fame of his capacity,
that—we all remember the circumstance—some

few years ago, he may be said, with perfect truth,
to have been nominated Commander-in-Chief of

the British Army in India, not by
a Ministry or
by a party, but absolutely and literally by national
acclamation. Yet how further has Sir CHARLES
NAPIER been recompensed by his country—how
further? Instead of a peerage, instead of place,
instead of pension, he has received only obloquy,
calumny, and vituperation. Such has been the
gratitude evinced towards that rem arkable man

who—now that the old Duke has been buried
away under the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral—is

incomparably the Greatest Living; Soldier of
England.

If Mr. VILLIERS was rightly designated by Mr.
DISRAELI the Stormy Petrel of Protection, Lord
PA,IMERSTON must with equal truth be termed the
Stormy Petrel of Whiggism; unless;, indeed, we
prefer to regard him rather as the halcyon of
Conservatism. Smooth was the sea-face of the
Opp( mition till his Lordship brought; forward his
resolution. Lord JoHN sat at the bead of a host
of F. ree-traders, all apparently the 'coadjutors of
the e s-Ministry ; Whiggism, as usual, mustered,
as its supporters, numbers who had. little or no
sYrap at by with it ; Radicals, earnest Free-traders,
very El )eral Free-trade Conservatives, all seemed
ready t, ) act with the Noble Lord. .His cashiered
Foreign
0 Secretary, however, broke the spell at
wheif,t,
...He brought forward a rescilution under
ci 'the Conservative Cabinet could weather the
storn,,, Le threw into disorder at the same time
he r all" on the Opposition benches ; to the one
oche r an
.augury an-a ,yed itself, of good. As the% matter had
becamee
w as in a
moment
omen, to the
the bird of evil .
it became inevitable that something
'nu st be done which hus
and the country
would regret, and perhaps °itheaS beon settled with
les ;s to wish otherwise thaii it
could, have been in
.137 other way. It wojik
have been regretted

doing we are not merely upholding the privilege
of our order, its most solemn responsibilities, and
most cherished prerogatives, we are simply obey-
ing the elementary condition of its existence.
For the Press cannot be said to exist where= its
freedom is not distinctly and permanently assured.
Yet—accepting as wholly incontrovertible the great
principles laid down by the LORD CHIEF Jus-
TICE in regard to the Liberty of the Press, happily
secured to this nation, at least under the shield
of the Constitution—we cannot view otherwige
than with positive amazement the discredit thrown,
in the particular instance before us, upon Sir
CHARLES NAPIER, for inasmuch as he presumes to
demand the rectification of certain glaring mis-
statements contained in the pages of our quarterly
contemporary. A glance at the affidavit published
this evening by ourselves will be sufficient to
prove, beyond the possibility of an instant's doubt,
the fact, and not only the fact, but the grossness
of those misstatements. It will be perceived, for
example, that Sir CHARLES was distinctly accused
by the reviewer of having wilfully concealed from
the knowledge of Lord ELLEN-BOROUGH, during the
course of the warlike operations against Scinde, a
circumstance which, if submitted in time to the con-
sideration of the Governor-General, might possibly
(so ran the argument) have prevented all necessity
for the great pitched battle at Meeanee ! Now
that is a single instance in point, and one quite
sufficient for present purposes by way of illustra-
tion. The question in its regard, simply resolves
itself to this. Was the assertion of the writer
accurate, or was it a misstatement ? Was the fact
alluded to concealed at the period specified from
the knowledge of the now Earl of ELLENBORO UGH ?
What is the answer of Sir CHARLES himself ?—an
answer, remember, given in upon oath. Why,
Sir CHARLES contents himself with pointing out
the precise page in those Parliamentary Papers
from which his assailant (we must not say his calum-
niator)professes to have collected together the mate-
rials of his argument, containing a letter written by
himself, eighteen days before the battle of Meeanee,
addressed to the Governor-General, informing that
Nobleman of the very circumstance asserted by the
Quarterly reviewer to have been wilfully concealed
from his Lordship's knowledge 'Yet in all this,'
if we are to credit the decision arrived at in the
Court of Queen's Bench, there is no falsity or
calumny, no blunder or misstatement whatsoever.
Again—the anonymous asperser of the Hero of
Scinde charged him with sending a communication
to MEER ROOSTUM, refusing to grant that per-
sonage an interview at the period when he was
expressing his anxiety to accede in every way to
the wishes of the British Government. Here,
surely there was another very distinct allegation.
But what is the nature of the reply to it contained
in the affidavit ? Why the reply is not less clear
and unanswerable than the one which we have
already particularised. Sir CHARLES simply points to
the very communication in question in that same
inexorable blue-book--demonstrating as clearly as
anything can possibly be demonstrated, that in-
stead of its refusing to grant the desired inter-
view to MEER ROOSTUM, it, on the contrary, prof-
fered him an asylum in the British camp, and
even tendered an escort to protect him on his
road to the tent of his conqueror ! Yet in all
this—if we are to believe some people—there is
actually no misstatement. And so Mr JUSTICE
COLERIDGE accedes to the wisdom of his learned
brother in refusing to allow any prosecution—
there may be as much persecution on one side as
you please, but there shall be no prosecution at
all on the other because, according to him
any permission to that effect, in the pre-
sent instance, would infallibly establish as
a rule, " that contemporary history could
not be written except in terms of praise, or
even servile flattery, that would make all history
useless 1" And so Lord CAMPBELL avows he
could only consent to a compliance with the
request of the applicant, if it were possible that he
could be persuaded " that the article was written
with the intention of calumniating !" And so the
rule is refused—and the case is dismissed—and
Sir CHARLES NAPIER is assailed yet more viru-
lently and perversely, a target for all the shafts
of petulance and vituperation.
It is the fortune, we know well, of some men
to be born with gold spoons in their mouths, as
it is for others to possess merely the wooden
ladles, like some of the well-known family of the
CHUZZLEWITS. There was the young gentleman of
former times, for example, who was so invariably
unlucky in his adventures, that he was heard at
last, in sheer despair, protesting his conviction
that if he had been brought up a hatter, people
would inevitably come into the world without
heads. There are, on the contrary, those who
have other dainties besides gold spoons com-
ing into their possession, as it were by
destiny or inheritance—opening their mouths
and shutting their eyes, and seeing what Dame
Fortune will send them. There have been before