The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-17 00:00:00

"chid. L remains yet to be adequately recounted-
-that war of which Louis KOSSUTH was at once the
31er )ic Chief and the Avenging Genius, the right
trm and the inspiration—the Leader of the
Ik la! ;Tars never once erred in his grand and com-
prehensive calculations. He counted upon his
ct 113 ipatriots, and they approved themselves worthy
or his confidence. He promised them victory—
al ad they had it surely again and again to their
nil's satisfaction. When everything frowned
u pen the interests of their nationality—when the
►nstrian. troopers were advancing almost at a
re view pace, with flying colours, and with their
di:urns and trumpets sounding the triumphal
march, KOSSUTH retreated, with the rest of the
Ilungarian Government, slowly upon Debreczin,
:still assuring his companions of success, if they
-relied upon him, and followed implicitly the bent
of his instructions. And they did. With what
result History has since told in that succession of
astounding battles which beat down the pride of
the German Emperor, and routed the troops of
even his most formidable veterans, and broke
the sword of his most redoubtable mar-
shals, and drove his armies back almost
at a single rush from the heart of the invaded
country to the very walls of Vienna. It was
through no error on the part of KOSSUTH that the
independence of the Magyars was not then com-
pletely and permanently established. It was,
after all, those triumphs insured by the genius,
and the valour, and the patriotism of the Magyar
CARNOT, the Hungarian Organiser of Victory, that
the glorious cause to which his whole life
was devoted was sold by the treason of
ARTHUR GoRGEY, and crushed under the feet
of the multitude of Cossacks brought into the
field by the order of the Russian Autocrat. Hun-
gary fell only because of the crime of an arch-
traitor, aided by the interposition of a foreign
army, under the command of Prince PASKEWITCH.
It was then that KOSSUTH, almost broken-hearted
at this appalling reverse, but still confident that
the day of vengeance must ultimately arrive,
worn out by the effects of his astonishing, almost
preternatural, exertions, and horror-stricken at the
cold-blooded murder of so many of his compa-
nions by civil and military execution, withdrew
from the reach of that army of assassins, by
retiring across the frontiers of Turkey, and plac-
ing himself under the sheltering power of the
young Sultan-Caliph ABD-UD.MEDJID. It was
then that occurred that memorable incident, re-
ferred to by Captain MAY NE REID in his recent
communication that incident which we can
never contemplate without emotion, and which
will for ever redound to the glory of the Liberator
of the Hungarians. Offered life on the condition
that he would renounce the religion of his fathers,
KOSSUTH repelled the craven temptation with a
noble and affecting outburst of indignation, ex-
claiming, " Death, death upon the scaffold,
is preferable to such terms for life ! Ac-
cursed be the tongue that could make to me
such an infamous proposal !" Yes—and this is
the man who, in the gloom and anguish of his exile,
sorrowing, as his lofty nature must so profoundly
over the sufferings, and, worse than that, the
temporary degradation of his fatherland—this is
the man who, in the hour of his misfortune, some
of his more heartless calumniators would brand
with the meanest of all guilt—the guilt of
cowardice. To this end it has been advisable, it
would appear, to trump up against him this
charge, stirring up an abortive revolt at Milan
by means of a " bombastic " Proclamation. Re-
viewing the course we have adopted in regard to
LOUIS KOSSUTH and his brave Hungarians,
we have reason, we conceive, to rejoice
from our heart that in this particular, also,
we were the earliest in doing full justice to
both by not hesitating in avowing our doubt as
to the authenticity of that strange and blun-
dering document. As we have already reminded
our readers, that doubt was expresss.d by our-
selves on Saturday the 12th of this present
February—and not until Tuesday the 15th,
namely, three days afterwards, was the first
authentic disavowal of the reputed authorship on
the part of KossuTu, transmitted to the chief
of our morning contemporaries. All misappre-
hension upon the matter is, therefore, cleared up
at length satisfactorily. KOSSUTH, through a per-
fectly reliable authority, has clearly disavowed the
document ! He has not contented himself with a sim-
ple disavowal—he has, through the medium of a most
credible witness, boldly pronounced it to be a
forgery ! He stands clear, therefore, of whatever
blame might have attached to him through the
influence of this criminal imputation. Aware of
these facts, it assuredly behoves the people of
England to regard with some degree of suspicion
the attacks directed by the apologists of Northern
Despotism against an illustrious Patriot like the
Leader of the Hungarians.

In another part of this day's impression will be
found a narrative of a fearful and heart-rending
catastrophe, in which many lives have been sacri-
ficed through the gross and culpable negligence of
one who had ever maintained the character of an
experienced and meritorious officer, and who, after
the deplorable accident had taken place, exerted
himself to the very utmost to mitigate the evils
arising from his own indiscretion, and sacrificed
even life itself at the call of duty. From the
moment of the accident no man could have acted
better than Captain CHURCH, and we deeply la-
ment the imperative necessity that compels us to
allow any reproach to rest on his memory; and
which we would gladly remove, if any circum-
stance should arise to alter the views we have
most reluctantly adopted. There is, however,
this damning fact that he was absent from deck
at a time when his presence would have been of
vital importance—that he was resting in his
cabin when all was doubt and uncertainty on
deck—when the murkiness of the storm rendered
it incumbent to preserve the utmost vigilance.
To that negligence may be ascribed the fatal
calamity which produced the loss of so many
lives and property to a large amount.
The Queen Victoria was a vessel of a very
superior description. She had been for many
years engaged in the Mail-packet Service. It
may, therefore, be easily credited that no ob-
jection could be preferred against the ship. Her
officers, and even the seamen employed, were, we
I believe, truly stated to have been "men of experi-
ence, prudence, and intelligence." No possible
imputation, therefore, can rest upon the Directors
of the City of Dublin Steam-packet Company.
They took every precaution befitting prudent and
sensible men as to the quality of the vessel,
and the experience and competence of the crew,
and cannot, therefore, be held in any degree
morally responsible for the serious consequences
that have occurred. There was no omission
on their part —nothing to be complained of,
and, therefore, the Board of Directors as a
body must be completely exonerated from all blame
in respect to the melancholy transaction. We
cannot, however, pronounce a similar verdict of
unqualified acquittal as to the conduct of the late
commanding officer.

From the graphic description of the melancholy
transaction which we have transferred into our
columns, from a talented Irish contemporary, it
will be seen that the Queeu Victoria left Liver-
pool for Kingstown about half-past three on Mon-
day last, with a valuable cargo, and a far more
valuable freight of human beings, comprising about
120 men, women, and children. At first, -all
went well. There was nothing to excite the
slightest feeling
of alarm until nearly half-past one
o'clock on Tuesday morning. Then, when the voy-
age had been nearly accomplished, and the place
of destination arrived at, a heavy fall of snow set
in. This, one of the most formidable occurrences
in coasting navigation, although it created a
slight sensation on deck, was not considered of
sufficient moment to warrant the disturbing
of the Captain from his slumbers, or taking the
instructions of the Commander on the emer-
gency. The transient view that was obtained of
the Kish-light would obviously have demanded
caution. But Captain CHURCH was not awakened,
nor was the speed of the ill-fated vessel in any
degree retarded. She proceeded on her course
rapidly, and nothing excited the slightest alarm in
the minds of the inexperienced passengers until a
hasty exclamation from the first mato announced
stanta-
the approaching calamity which almost in