The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-18 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18. 1849.

With more than ordinary feelings of exultation we
refer our readers to the intelligence contained in the
voluminous dispatches published in extenso in another
part of this evening's impression—by which it will
be seen that the rebellion of the Seikhs and the
Affghans was entirely conquered on the 21st of
February, in the great victory of Goojrat. Since the
morning at Plessey, when 60,000 men under the
Nabob SURAJAH DOWLAH were routed, with the
loss of all their baggage and ammunition, no more
decisive battle has been fought between the Asiatics
and Europeans. At Goojrat a larger number of
antagonists fled before our victorious soldiers
than on the occasion to which we have alluded—for
the insurgents under the combined direction of RAJA
SHERE SINGH, and his father SIRDAR CHUTTUR
SINGH, amounted to 60,000 men, exclusive of the
auxiliaries from Affghanistan, commanded by
AKRAII. KELL'S, the son of the Ameer DOST Mk*
HOMMED. Over these formidable enemies, the grand
army, which had already measured swords with them
in the disastrous skirmishes at Ramnuggur, and in
the sanguinary engagement at Chillianwallab, ob-
tained one of the most extraordinary successes re-
counted even in the annals of our military
achievements in Hindostan. All recollection of
the dubious and even sinister commencement of
the campaign has been obliterated by this
complete and overwhelming advantage. The reverses
of our brave Sepovs and of one of our most cele-
brated cavalry regiments have been forgotten in the
glory of their recent proceedings and in those evi
dences of stubborn valour and unflinching resolution
which materially aided in the overthrow and dis-
persion of their assailants. His Excellency the
Bight Honourable the Commander-in-Chief retires
from his splendid but awful responsibilities in the
;ulness of that renown which he has nobly earned
with the keenness of his heroic 'word and with his
ripened abilities as a military tactitian. The premature
condemnation pronounced against him as a Captain
—a condemnation in which it may not be forgotten
that we refrained from participating—has been magni-
ficently falsified : insomuch that the remembrance of
the famous days of Sobraon and Ferozepore assumes
a secondary interest to the triumphant catastrophe of
Goojrat. While, however, the achievement of the
21st of February is virtually a crown of laurels to
Lord GOUGH, while the credit of that decisive victory
is in the very first instnaee attributable to the scientific
precision and the skilfel contrivance of his arrangements
—it must not be c-rerlooked that those in a subordinate
position to the veteran Leader ably seconded him in
the following out of his ideas, and by the obedient cele-
rity with which they carried his commands into
execution. s It is
quite impossible for me," says the
Commander-in-Chief, in his dispatch to the Governor-
General, "sufficiently to express my admiration of
the gallant and steady conduct of the officers and
men, as well Native as European, upon this occasion."
Among the other divisions of his army, Lord Govan

particularly makes allusion to the services performed
by the cavalry and artillery. The " determined
front" with which " the 14th Light Dra-
goons completely overawed the enemy," he de-
clares to have " contributed much to the success of
the day." To that " splendid arm, the artillery,"
commanded by Brigadier-General TENNANT, he ex-
presses himself as "indeed grateful," and proclaims
with a generous enthusiasm, that to its irresistible
power he is " mainly indebted for the glorious victory
of Goojrat." Nor were the distinguished officers at
I the head of the various divisions less fortunate in
eliciting from the Commander-in-Chief those abrupt
phrases of commendation which drop like precious
unguents upon physical suffering and mental anxiety
—compensating with a few golden syllables all the
toils and harassments of a campaign. With the cor-
diality befitting his valiant nature, Lord GOUGH dis-
tributes his eulogiurns to his " tried and gallant"
second in command Major-General Sir JOSEPH
THACKWELL, to Major-General Sir WALTER
GILBERT, Major-General Winn', to Brigadier-Gene-
rals DUNDAS and CAMPBELL, to the Adjutant-General
Colonel GRANT, and the Quartermaster-General Lieu-
tenant-Colonel GARDEN, to the Judge- Advo-
cate-General Lieutenant-Colonel BIRCH, and
the Field-Surgeon, Dr. Mlltals, as well as to many
other officers of the general staff of the army, of the
general staff of her MAJESTY'S service, and of the
staff personally attendant upon himself during the
period of the engagement. Although we have, un-
happily, reason to mourn for the loss upon this
memorable occasion of five British officers killed and
twenty-four wounded, together with between seven
and eight hundred non-commissioned officers and
privates killed, wounded, and missing —we
have cause to rejoice over the circumstance
that the victory thus dearly purchased has proved in
every particular so overpowering as to promise the
rapid and permanent settlement of the countries
lately in a state of revolt—countries already, in
effect, united to our gigantic dominions in Hin-
dostan. Besides the total dispersion of the 60,000
insurgents, with a loss to them in killed and wounded
as yet altogether impossible to estimate, our
heroic army has gained possession of fifty-seven
out of the fifty-nine pieces of artillery brought
to bear against our troops at the commence-
ment of the battle by the forces under
the RAJA and the SIRDAR. The trophies of Gooj-
rat, as enumerated by the Commander-in-Chief him•
self, are no less than these numerous guns, hitherto
the principal strength of the enemy, " his camp, his
baggage, his magazines, and vast stores of ammuni-
tion !" As a terrible reprisal for the events of Ram-
nuggur and Chillianwallah, there appears to have been
on the side of the conquerors no quarter, no mercy, no
merely partial efforts of any kind whatever. Every-
thing was done bravely, earnestly, and determinedly—
by cavalry, by infantry, and by artillery—by officers,
by non-commissioned officers, and by privates—by
the native troops, as well as by the European soldiers.

An examination of the important documents pub-
lished by ourselves elsewhere will thoroughly unfold
the character of the operations of the great pitched
battle at Goojrat, from the moment when the Seikh
guns first opened their fire across the nullas, until
the last brilliant movement by which those nullas
were cleared, the batteries carried, the camp
captured, the villages stormed, and the enemy routed
in every direction. It will, likewise, be perceived
from those dispatches, how terrific was the vengeance
of the English horsemen who pursued the
fugitives, without drawing bridle, to a dis-
tance of twelve miles beyond the outskirts
of the field of battle, strewing the ground with the
bodies of the dead and wounded, and returning to the
camp by ten o'clock at night, after being no less than '
fifteen hours in the saddle. Beyond what we have
already recounted, it will likewise be observed that no
exertion was spared to improve the fruits of the victory,
by dispatching that distinguished soldier Sir WALTER.
GILBERT in pursuit of the flying ranks of the Seikhs
and Affghans, with a force which was to be
gradually augmented to sixteen thousand men
flushed with succes=, and inflamed with ani-
mosity. By the latest information we learn that
these veterans had crossed the Jhelum, a river re-
nowned in ancient history as the Hydaspes—that
they had traversed the Bukreealah piss without an
encounter—and that, on the 3:1 of March, they had
taken possession of the strong fortress of }Maras.
Everything indicates the immediate termination of
a campaign so inauspiciously commenced but so glo-
riously consummated. Everything augurs that the
command of Lord GouGet closes not only with the
victory of Goojrat but with the annexation of the
Punjaub and Affghanistan to our other territories
in Hindostan ; and ti at the command of Sir CHARLES
NAPIER will begin at a period the best calculated to
forward that great Captain's projects for the more
perfect organization of the British Indian army. To
hesitate for one moment as to what sheuld be the re-
sult of the campaign of which Goojrat is
the most brilliant achievement, would 1 e insanity.
That the line of the northern frontier can be safely
marked out at the Indus is as impossible as that our
frontier can be continued without danger of a
perpetual renewal of hostilities at the Sutlej.
Even the vast and fruitful province of the
Punjaub would be insufficient to preserve us from
the perfidy of the Dooranee barbarians. The line of
demarcation must stretch upwards to the skirts of
Caubul, to the base of the Indian Caucasus. Other-
wise, Peace will be only another name for Truce, and
a treaty of amity will continue to be nothing better
than a specious and rather dubious pledge of an ar-
mistice. After what has transpired the Punjaub
will not be sufficient—we must have Affghanistan.

The Navigation Bill, as amended, is to be con-
sidered in Committee to-morrow evening, and it is
hoped that the third reading may be taken on
Monday, and that it may then be disposed of, so far,
at least, as the representative branch of the Legisla-
ture is concerned. We can scarcely supppose that
the Lords will consider it fitting to reject or mutilate
a► measure so intimately connected with the trade and
commerce of the country, and attempt to maintain a
maritime code based upon the obsolete principles of
monopoly and protection, and opposed to the general
tenor of all modern legislation. Their Lordships
have little personal connexion with shipping or ship-
owners—they have no private interests at stake. There
is, therefore, no analogy between the present measure
and that for the repeal of the corn-laws, on which
occasion a serious collision between " the Houses"
might reasonably hare been anticipated. The danger
was, however, happily averted. The supreme will of
the nation—testified by a large and decisive majority
of the popular representatives—was fully recognised,
and the House of Peers evinced a wise and
prudent discretion, in avoiding a contact which under
any circumstances must have proved deeply injurious
to the community at large. We trust that a similar
discretion may be exercised in the present instance—
that no differences may arise between those great
assemblies to disturb the harmony that should ever
exist between them, a harmony which is of such
vital importance to the nation.

It is obviously the interest of all parties that the
question should be settled without any unnecessary
delay. Nothing can be more injurious to any
interest whatsoever than any doubt as to the laws
by which it is to be regulated. Bad laws
are better than uncertain laws, which paralyze
activity and check enterprise. Shipping forms no
exception in this respect, to the general rule. What
new speculations will be entered into, when all is
doubt and uncertainty as to tile future rate of
freights, the position and liabilities of shipowners, and
the amount of competition to which they may be
exposed at the very period when their contracts and
engagements may have to be performed ? If, then,
those laws are to be modified in any degree, it is ex-
ceedingly desirable that the question should be dis-
posed of as speedily as possible; that it should be set
at rest for many years to come—we say for many years,
for we confess we place but little confidence in
the doctrine of " finality," or in the possibility of
permanent legislation on any subject whatever.
The matter can no longer be argued on economical
grounds. No reason can be adduced why that pro-
tection which has been withdrawn from commodities,
should still be extended to the vessels in which those
commodities are borne from port to
port—why it
should be denied to producers of any class, and al-
lowed to carriers. The same injurious consequences
will result from restrictions affecting
shipping that
were 59 painfully conspicuous with respect to

corn and provisions, and the happy results of the
free-trade enact ments may be done away with or
neutralized by the stringency of the navigation code.
England can never become the storehouse of the
world so long as a short-sighted and impolitic mono-
poly is sanctioned in the carrying trade. We cannot
suppose that other nations will not follow the example
we set them, that they will permit our vessels to
resort freely to their ports, our seamen to enter into
a fair and generous competition with their own, while
we maintain an exclusive system, imposing the most
vexatious restrictions on their commerce. We must
expect that a full measure of reciprocity will be ac-
corded, that our own selfish enactments will be
returned with full, aye, most usurious interest.
We are, therefore, conferring no real benefit on our
shipowners or seamen by the maintenance of this
most impolitic code; on the contrary, we are prevent-
ing them from entering into that general competition
which we cannot help thinking would prove most
advantageous.

What have we to fear from this competition ? Is
there less capital or enterprise among our shipowners
—less skill and industry among our shipbuilders—
less activity, courage, or hardihood among our
sailors ? Are Englishmen so inferior that they
must succumb to every rival, and shrink from the
contest whenever they may be compelled to
enter into it on equal terms, when deprived
of the 'vantage ground afforded by Legislative
enactments in their favour ? We do not think so
humbly of our countrymen—we do not shudder at
the gloomy vaticinations that have been uttered by
the supporters of the present system—at the prophetic
forewarnings of impending ruin, of decaying ports,
and of abandoned dockyards. Our shipping interests
have not, in fact, been very prosperous under the
Navigation Laws. Relying on the principle of
protection, they have not endeavoured to command
that success which they vainly supposed was insured
to them by the exclusion of all rivalry. Many
glaring defects unquestionably exist that must be
remedied, when a " clear stage and no favour" is all
that can be hoped for. Masters and mates of vessels
must be duly qualified for the important duties they
are willing to undertake—greater activity must be
perceptible on every side—the business must not be
performed in a slovenly ior careless manner—the
sailors must not exhibit a mutinous or disobedient
spirit, or abandon themselves to drunkenness or dissi-
pation in their leisure moments. Do not let it be
supposed that we assert this to be the case
with all our masters, mates, or seamen. Happily
we have many, very many good men, brave
skilful, intelligent, and temperate, in every class,
and such men will be prosperous under every equit-
able regulation ; but where fair emulation is allowed,
the tone and character of the entire body will be
materially elevated and improved. Good-for-no-
thing and worthless men will not be accepted, when
there are abundant materials from which to select the
crews.