The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-07 00:00:00

011oniva .t)ATIL

LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1852.

Sir HARRY SMITH was on Thursday evening—we
doubt not to the horror of Earl GREY—fully and satis-
factorily exonerated by his Grace the Duke of WEL-
LINGTON. After the overwhelming jeers directed
against his Excellency, the fact of the speech deli-
vered yesterday in the House of Lords by the veteran
COMMANDER-IN• CHIEF will prove, of course, in
thousand different quarters matter of very profound
astonishment. From the statement made by that re-
nowned warrior, the NESTOR of the greatest captains
of the age, it would appear that the blame cast upon
the military capacity of Sir HARRY SMITH during a
considerable time past has been not merely grievously
precipitate but lamentably exaggerated. There is
something which will command, we feel assured, the
most respectful attention from even the most prejudiced
opponents of the late Governor of the Cape, in the
very tone in which the Duke undertakes the defence
of his disciple in arms, doing so, as will be remarked,
at the earliest possible opportunity since the re-as-
sembling of the Imperial Parliament. His Grace,
with considerable feeling, besought the House to
listen, for however brief an interval, to some expres-
sion of his sense of the general services of General Sir
HARRY SMlTH—thereby reminding the country that in
pronouncing displeasure at his latest acts as a com-
mander (even supposing him to beoculpable in their
regard), it is but just, it is but reasonable, it is but
decent, to have in remembrance the merit accruing

to him from his various antecedents. What the
merit of those antecedents may be—and we talk no
here of Aliwal any more :than we would refer to any
one of the mythic incidents recorded in the Greek
Anthology—it is not difficult to comprehend from
the indefinite but significant words of praise
pronounced in his favour on Thursday evening
by the Duke of WELLINGTON. "He is
an officer," who, said his Grace, speaking of
Sir HARRY SMITH, "from the high reputation which
he has already obtained in the service, does not re-
quire any commendation from me." With this grace-
ful and complimentary allusion to the previous career
of his Excellency, the Duke thus continues his deci-
sive effort at exoneration :—" Having filled," he says,
" a high command in several important military ope-
rations carried on under his direction, and having
been recalled by her MAJESTY'S Government, it is
but just to him to say that I, who am his com-
manding officer, though at a great distance, en-
tirely approve of all his operations—of all the
orders he has given to the troops, and of
all the arrangements he made for their success."
Whatever civilians may think upon the matter, we
must, nevertheless, bow to the supe.7ior judgment in
military operations of the veteran conqueror whose
words we have here transcribed. Than those words
of his, none surely could be more decisive or more
satisfactory in the way not of extenuation, but of the
most complete and final exoneration. After the almost
unanimous abuse lavished upon Sir HARRY SMITE!
and his companions, the remarks made in the House
of Lords last Thursday by his Grace the
COMMANDER-IN-CHIMP will come to their
knowledge as a balm and a consolation.
Defeated by circumstances, they will find that
they have not, nevertheless, fallen in the estima-
tion of the Duke of WELLINGTON. Discomfited for
a while by the barbarians of Southern Africa, they will
perceive that they still preserve the good opinion of
the most remarkable of living warrio rs. Abandoned,
despised, and insulted by the leader• of the Colonial
Department of the Administration, abandoned, de-
spised, and insulted, we should say, by the very man
who led them into their recent dilemmas, they
will discover that they are t reated in a
very different manner, indeed, that they are
upheld rather than abandoned, that they are vindi-
cated rather than despised, that th.!y are eulogised
rather than insulted by a much more distinguished
personage, by one more competent to pronounce an
opinion upon their proceedings, by one whose esti-
mate of their conduct will be listened to with a
much more extended and respectful attention—by
the Captain of the Peninsula and the Conqueror of
Seringapatam. As to the proceedings of the troops,
it will be observed with peculiar interest, that his
Grace remarked —" I approve entirely of the
conduct of the troops in all their operations." He
admits, of course, as could not but have been ex-
pected, that Sir HARRY has, here and there,
been guilty of some errors -- adding "as
others have done before him"—but he proclaims at
the same time his firm conviction that, upon the
whole, "everything has been done by the Commanding
General, by the forces, and by the officers, in order
to carry into execution the instructions of
her MAJESTY'S Government." If for nothing
else the speech from which we have made
the foregoing extracts will be remembered with gra-
tification by all parties interested in the maintenance
of the national honour, in the preservation of the fame
of a distinguished soldier, and in the continuance of
those feelings of confidence and valour in the ranks of
the British army which have hitherto rendered its
strength indomitable. The remarks made more par-
ticularly in that oration upon the conduct of Sir.
HARRY SMITH do honour to the heart of the Duke of
WELLINGTON.

Contrast for a moment the official letter of Earl
GREY, in which the late Governor of the
Cape was recalled in terms so very in-
sulting and peremptory, with the generous observa-
tions made upon Sir HARRY SMITH'S conduct by his
Grace the COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. Nothing could
scarcely be more harshly intimated to an officer who
has in the course of his life done good
service to the country, in one or another part of
her MAJESTY'S dominions, than the fact of his recall
as conveyed to him through Lord GREY'S very in-
temperate communication. Happily, however, for
the feelings of his Excellency, happily for the spirit
of our troops in Southern Africa, the letter of the
Colonial Secretary will not have reached Cape Town
v ery long before the hearts both of the General and of
his soldiers will be cheered by the noble exoneration
of them all by his
Grace the Duke of WELLINGTON.
TI

the only paragraph i
Parliament to
does not suggest to the
assembled degree rel art i
anrgl i tof n the Royal Speech in any
e
reme-
dial measures by which the sufferings of that deeply-
consideration of any
afflicted land may be in
tranquillity prevailing
"that
We are told of thaeny„degorf
leereallandlevia,,, butted.
throughout the greater portion
certain parts of the counties of Armagh, I,lonaghan
"
and Louth, have been marked by the commission- of
outrages of the most serious description.
We are
also told, that " the powers of the existing law have
"
been promptly executed for the detection of the
offenders,and vi
violence fataleandf to h
for thteebest ier
repression
nto(f a system of crime
sty
of
the country
and we are assured that the Royal "attention
will continuo to be directed to this impOrtant
subject." This is the full extent of the communica-
tion, and making full allowance for the ambiguous
terms in which these documents are usually framed,
we cannot think that the inhabitants of the sister
kingdom will receive any great degree of encourage-
ment therefrom. If the allusion means anything—
if it might not have been altogether omitted—it can
only refer to penal measure.
The " powers of the existing law" are spoken of in
a manner that
abortive result of the S • • •has
acquires double significance from the
pecial Commission which
just terminated its labours in the county of Mo-
naghan. Great public inconvenience had been sus-
tained by the absence of the Chief Justices of the
Queen's Bench and Common pleas from their
ordinary avocaticns, and that at the time
their services were peculiarly require,l—considerable
expenses, amounting to several thouse, nds of pounds
sterling, were also incurred for the Pu rpose of antici-
pating by a few weeks the period of: the
ordinary
assizes. It was deemed essential that the majesty of

the law should he promptly vindicated, that a heavy
blow should be inflicted on the f)ul conspiracy that
has been organized in districts heretofore compara-
tively free from so grievous a stain. The assassina-
tion of Mr. BATEON—of a gentleman who had lite-
rally been the kind and benefi?ent friend of all per- '
sons with whom he was in any degree connected,
who had gained golden opinions from persons in
every class of society and of every shade and diver-
sity of political feeling—showed that a crisis of no
ordinary magnitude was impending which required
immediate attention. Persons who were charged
with the offence were in actual custody under very
suspicious circumstances. Every preparation was
made for their trial=, and that in a manner befitting
the magnitude of the emergency—the solemnity of
the occasion.

The result has, however, disappointed all the anti-
cipations that had been formed—one only of the ae-
cused was given in charge. He was, however, tried
twice, and neither jury could agree to a verdict. We
shall not enter into the consideration, whether it was
the evidence was defective, or the juries, or at least
some of the members, determined to disregard the
solemn oaths that they had taken. It is neither our
duty nor our inclination to call to task persons who
occupy respectable positions, else they would not
have been placed on the jury panel, or their attend-
ance required on such an occasion, or to insinuate
that they who had heard the entire evidence, who had
the fullest opportunity of considering, not only the
statements, but the manner and demeanour of every
witness, and of thus determining the weight that
should be attached to his testimony, must have been
guilty of wilful and corrupt perjury, because they
abided by their own opinions, and did not decide in
accordance with the views of others, who had no such

satisfactory means of arriving at an accurate conclu.

E ion. Still less should we be disposed, while the fate of
the unfortunate men is sub judice, while they are

awaiting their trials at the forthcoming assizes, to ex-
press any unfavourable judgment, more especially a
judgment that must necessarily be founded on in-
sufficient data. But it is certain, from whatever
cause it may have arisen, that innocent blood has
been shed with impunity, and that the gangs of or-
ganized assassins are acquiring fresh audacity and
preparing for acts of similar—they could not be of

greater—atrocity, and that although " all the powers of
the existing law have been promptly exerted for the
detection of the offenders, and for the repression of a
system of crime and violence fatal to the best in-
terests of the country."
Two victims only were offered up at the shrine of
offended justice ; and the offence of which they
were convicted was one of a comparatively trivial
character, one, indeed, only rendered penal by the
provisions of a special Act of Parliament. There
could be no doubt that they contemplated a crime
of the most serious character; that, had they not been
prevented by the timely information afforded and the
consequent interposition of the police, by whom they
were arrested, they would have given occasion for the
accounts of " another Irish murder," and the irri-
tating comments of the anti-Irish press. Their legal
crime, however, was one only warranting incarceration.
Their punishment, therefore, does not remove the
brand of failure from the " Special Commission,"
from the salutary terror inspired by which so many
beneficial results were anticipated.
Something must therefore be done to restore
the districts in which untoward events have
occurred from the stain thereby inflicted, and it
is a matter for deep and serious consideration what is
to be the nature of that something—whether penal
or remedial. We confess that we are more disposed
for the latter than the former, and we also believe
that it would prove more efficacious. It would, at all
events, have novelty to recommend it, and as the op-
posite course has so frequently failed, why not change
the system ? We do not of course mean that crime
and murder should remain unchecked, or permitted
to run riot throughout. Far from it. Let every
legal and constitutional means be resorted to for their
suppression, but coupled therewith let us concede
such matters as will check the sympathy of the great
mass of the people with the offenders, and cause them
to be regarded in their true light, not as champions of
oppressed tenants, but as ruthless and bloodthirsty
murderers—not as the friends, but as the worst ene-
mies of Ireland.

M. GERMAIN SARRUT has addressed a letter to the
France Centrale, declaring that in the name of M.
D'ETCHEGOYEN, now a political refugee at London,
and of himself, a prisoner at Paris, they intend in
every way to abstain Una taking part in the coming
elections. They are urged to this declaration, he
says, by the numerous letters which they receive from
their friends on the subject.
M. PETRO/CM, who was recently condemned to
transportation for life, for participation in the insur-
rectional movements in the South, has presented a
petition to the PRESIDENT of the Republic for par-
don, and is awaiting in prison for the answer. His
petition is supported by the Archbishop of BORDEAUX
and by Count DE AIONTLAUR.
The following are the chief items of the Bank re-
turns for the week :

Specie ..• ••• ..• ...
Ditto departments ...
Portfolio ••• •••
•.• ...
Ditto branches
••• ...
Bank-notes in circulation ...
Ditto branches ••• •••
Credit to Treasury ...
Accounts current •••
••• •••
Ditto in branches
.... •••

451,620,214
... 109,720,538
... 49,748,849
... 75,067,968
... 451,776,600
... 128,126,650
... 78,927,434
... 118,522,732
... 26,192,867

BaonudloAmgnie:ns,
11
ex
There is no remarkable alteration under the head
of specie. The portfolio has declined 6 millions in
Paris, but has increased 3 millions in the departmental
account. Such a falling off under the head of dis-
counted bills will be taken to confirm the slackness of
busineess said to be felt in the city. The notes cir-
culation is contracted by 10 millions in Paris, but in-
creased nearly 3 millions in the provinces. The credit
to the Treasury has declined about millions. Ac-
counts current have increased 6t,millions in Paris, and
1 million in the departments.
The Bourse was feeble towards the close of business,
and public securities declined in price. The Five per
Cents. opened at 103 f. an 4 fell to 1021. 80c.,
at which they closed for the end of the month; the
Three per Cents. closed at 641. Orleans Railroad
Shares, 1,1001.; Rouen, 6351. ; Havre, 265 f.; Great;
Northern, 5651. Avignon, 222 f. 50c. ; Vierzon, 502 f.
50c. • Basle, 2061.25 c.; Bordeaux 435 f.; Paris and
Stras'burgh. 462 f. 50c.; Tours and Nantes, 2961. 25c.;
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, FEB. 6.
2851. ; Paris and Lyons, 5771. 50c,
Northern of France, 183/I—Orleans and Bordeaux, BIA
Paris and Lyons, 9t —Paris and Rouen, 264 —Rouen and
Havre, 101 A. d.—Dutch Rhenish, 3
Amßoieulnosgtnoe

SPAIN.
Madrid journals, of the Ist, have arrived.
The Heraldo, remarking on a statement in the
Gazette, that the revenue return for December last
exceeded those for December, 1850, observes that
they are still under the amount calculated upon in
the estimates, and that there is a great deficit in the
general revenue.
The Bolsa was closed on the Ist, being Sunday.

GERMANY.
The Illoniteur of Stuttgard of the 3d publishes a
Royal decree dissolving all democratic associations.
A letter from Berlin of the Ist, in the Breslow
Gazette, states that news had arrived there of the
conclusion of a treaty between the Austrian Govern-
ment and the PRESIDENT of the French Republic,
fixing the eventualities which shall cause the occupa-
tion of Switzerland by France and Austria. This
news, says the letter, has occasioned great sensation
in Berlin, as it is considered that such a treaty
ought not to have been made without the conFent of
Prussia.
The National Gazette of Berlin contains a letter
from Dresden of the 31st ult. which says :—" A ty-
pographical error, which slipped into the Constitu-
tional Gazette of Saxony, has caused a secret sitting
to be held by the First Chamber, on account of one
of the sittings having been inserted under the head of
`Royal Theatre of the Court.'

DELNYIA .K..
A letter from Copenhagen, of the 31st ult., in the
Boersenhalle, states that M. DE BILLE started two
days before for London, where he is to exercise the
functions of ambassador at the Court of St. James's.

--
TURKEY.
The Cologne Gazette states from Constantinople,
24th ult., that the question of the holy places has
been settled, to the satisfaction of the French Mi-
nister, on the bases of the treaty of 1760. It is
added that a Rouman banker had fled from Constan-
tinople to Odessa, leaving a deficit of ;15 millions of
Turkish piastres, of which 13 millions are owing to
the Government.

THE QUEEN OF SPAIN.
A telegraphic dispatch, dated Madrid, in the after-
noon of the 3d, states that her Majesty was going on
very favourably ; the local inflammation naturally
attendant on the wound and the fever had abated.
When her Majesty received the wound, which was
inflicted o❑ her side with a poniard, and not with a
pistol, as at first stated, she was proceeding to the
Church of Atocha, surrounded by her Court. The
assassin, who is a priest, has been arrested.

DEPARTURE OF FRENCH AND HUN-
GARIAN REFUGEES FOR AMERICA.
A third and last American liner left the London
Docks this morning for America, with about eighty
French and Hungarian refugees, their wives and chil-
dren (most of whom have been provided with a regular
outfit ), who are to be conveyed free of
It appears that for the last few months the rapid in•
crease of refugees at the re-unions of the French in this
country, bad led the authorities to pay more than expees for.e the:occasion
or-
dinary attention to their prand localitioceedinges were knowns, and not only
to t the
he
ir
irncak mes
the Government
members of a French club in
the neighbourhood of Rathbone-place, received, through
the agency of one of their own members (who had long
been looked on with suspicion), the offer of a free
actions, but
ewantete the.s
back k
A
passage,
body of opAmerica,
upwards at theef 100
emteimn time being already
the shores of
leiy theebs'anfonoed• and 41. each on their landing on
Channel. The offer was almost unani-
mously aceepted, and to the surprise of all present,
En
papers were given to them, in most instances filled up
with their names. to go immediately to the outfitters for
the clothes required.
So earnest do the promoters of this affair appear, that
gl
ready informed
left
that one
the
parties who bad left their residences were sought after,
and, at the eleventh hour, conveyed by cab to the ves-
sel, and furnished with every comfort free of expense.
The vessel is fitted up with every convenience, and is
said to possess far more comfort than ordinary emigrant
ships.
The emigrants, most of whom were on board yester-
day, are lett to surmise the source from whence the
funds come, but the general opinion is that the purse is
opened equally by Louis Napoleon and the English Go-
vernment. ,

d - ---
' -----
. ,
CAIINET OUNca„crais DAY). A Cabinet
Council was held at the Foreign-office this afternoon, at one
o'clock. There were present Lord John Russell, the Earl of
Minto (who arrived in town this morning from a visit to
her Majesty at Windsor Castle), the Lord Chancellor, Earl
of Carlisle, Earl Granville, Earl Grey, the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, Sir George Grey, Lord Seymour, Sir Francis
T. Baring, and the Right Hon. Henry I,abouchere. The
new President of the Board of Control was absent, having
left town to attend his election for Perth. The Minis-
ters will dine with Lord John Russell on Wednesday
evening, at his Lordship's residence in Chesham-place.
The Right Hon,
the Speaker has issued cards for
his first Parliamentary dinner for Saturday, the 14th inst.
Lord J. Russell will give his first Cabinet dinner
on Wednesday next.
We understand that the Government have resolved
to organize a special department at the Board of Trade, for
the purpose of
, and aiding art education generally as ap-
plied to manufactures—wants which the Great Exhibition
have offered a responsible office in management to Mr.
increasing the efficiency of the existing
schools of design
of last year made very manifest; and we hear that they
Henry Cole, one of the acting members of the Executive
Committee in the Exhibition.
BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.—The usual
monthly meeting of this society was held last evening at the
society's-rooms, 20,
Bedford-street, Strand ; J. Reynolds,
btmismembers
Mr.
s m
Esq., treasurer, in the chair. The curator reported that
British p e r
being,most
~ ota3 o nspecimens.
some
of
great progresshad bean made in selecting the parcels of
plants for the members, and he expected that the distribu-
e read
a receivepa
distribu-
tion would be finished the course of the month. He stated
that
aa h
Various donations were announced to the library and her-
barium.
• •
sh would
Plants for distribution to the Members of the
Society in 1852."

ROYAL oaTuorAtnic HOSPlTAL.—Yesterday after-
noon
inmeeting took place in the board-room of this charity,
a
Bloomsbury_square, for the purpose of transacting the
generalt business connected with the institution. It appears
In_ the number of patients now under treatment exceeds
yuu, the
daily attendance being over 100. From 20 to 50
new cases are weekly presented for treatment, and in addi-
tion there are about 300 severe cases registered on the books
as needing
particular operations and admission into the
wards. The present accommodation for in-patients being
greatly inadequate to the demands on the charity, the latter
number are waiting for beds, and are admitted in their turn
according to the date of application. The total number of
patients cured of lateral curvature of the spine, club-foot,
and other contractions and deformities, since the opening of
the hospital, exceeds 12,000.
Royal Free
GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA.—The Marquis ofd
Normanby, a correspondent assures us, has been appoint!
Governor-General of India. Lord Dalhousie continues in-
disposed, and is expected home early next month.—Ad-
tressed objects
vertiser.
ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL.—In consequence of tho
theh oosfp:tiarl..
greatly increased number of patients, the committee of the
appoint an additional physician and an assistant burgeon, the
duties
being found heavier than the previously appointed
medical staff could ossibly perform with justice to the dis-
to the Surveyor-Gene-
ralship Hospital,h e
daily Gray'spr eslenant- Inn-road,
she:
vv
ee a baete n t
he gatobligedes ofte
MR. BERNAL OSDORNE.—The rumoured appoint-
mentralship of the Board of Ordnance, was discussed last night at
the Reform Club ; but it appears, from the rather positive
assertions of some of the gallant gentleman's political friends,
that, dissatisfied with the minor chara:ter of the office, and
the inadequacy of remuneration as compared with his expecta-
tion,, he has apprised the First Minister of the Crown that
he cannot consent to replace Major-General Charles Richard
FOX on the Board of Ordnance,—Advertiser.