The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-24 00:00:00

it Int
,4 •

LONDON, MONDAY, MAY 24, 1847.

Assuming the report of DANIEL O'CONNELL'S
death to be authentic, it becomes our sorrowful duty
to consider the consequences that may result from
the sudden departure of a man who has exercised
such an extraordinary influence over the character of
his age, and rendered himself the most conspicuous
personage in the history of Ireland. His demise at
any period must have been an important calamity,
not only in the consideration of his fellow-country-
men, but in the estimation of the whole civilized
world. At this lamentable crisis, when the Irish
peasantry are dying by thousands from starvation and
pestilence, when the solemn pageantry of the triduum
is winding about their cathedrals, lamenting the woes
of Erin, and supplicating the balms of DIVINE PRO-
VIDENCE ; at this particular moment, when the final
desolation seems to have descended upon the
island, the death of the great man whom
Ireland has emphatically christened her Liberator
becomes a matter of paramount and even supreme
interest. Until the intelligence of the dissolution
of O'CONNELL at Genoa, on the evening of Saturday,
the 15th ult. be fully corroborated, we shall continue
sanguine that it may prove altogether unfounded.
We shall hope—earnestly, and ardently, and un-
ceasingly hope—that accounts of such a disastrous
nature have originated only in a cruel deception ; for
the continued existence of the Irish Liberator has
long remained the sole guarantee for the quietude
and subordination of his compatriots. Should
his career have actually terminated, it is im-
possible to conjecture the futurity reserved for
Ireland ; it is impossible to say whether she
will still preserve her obedience to the con-
stitution, or permit the ebullition of her long-
suppresed hostility ; whether, in short, the
politicians who have seceded from Conciliation Hall,
under the guidance of WILLIAM SMITu O'BRIEN,
may not,, by their ill-advised advocacy of physical
force, goad the afflicted populace to some frightful
act of desperation.
Instead of the impassioned but pacific adjurations
of O'CONNELL, the Irish will, in the event of his de-
mise, be stung to frenzy by the oratory of
the Young Irelanders. Erin will revert, in thought
it is true, to the days when DANIEL O'CONNELL
wielded the sceptre of popularity. In the first ecstacy
of her sorrow she will remember, as the Courrier
Francais very beautifully exclaims, "that magic and
inspired ty)ice which she will hear no more; that ardent
soul which animated an entire people with its breath ; that
eloquence winged like a canticle, melancholy like a psalm,
varied like a drama, and through which occasionally
passed the disordered inspiration of ancient prophets!"
Yes, the children of Ireland will mourn for the depar-
ture of their political chieftain, because, like the Univers,
they regard him as "a great servant of GoD, a great ser-
vant of Man, a great and sincere apostle of Liberty."
There will be lamentations in the sister island for the
loss of him whom the Roman Catholic Count DE
MONTALEMBERT addressed as " the most illus-
trious Roman Catholic layman in the world,"
for they cannot lose the recollection of the
inestimable blessings they have received through his
instrumentality, they cannot forget that it was
DANIEL O'CONNELL who gained for them Roman
Catholic emancipation, thereby earning for himself
the almost sublime title of THE LIBERATOR,
and enrolling his name among the most eminent of
the champions of civil and religious liberty. That
must infallibly be the effect of such lamentable
though dubious news as that which is at
present eliciting our observations, whenever
it reaches Ireland properly confirmed and authen-
ticated. After the first paroxysm of Irish
grief, however, it is very much to be dreaded that'
the sequel we have already intimated will follow.
When the factious ranters of the Dublin Rotunda
are apostrophizing the star-spangled banner of the
United States as their only surety of redemption from
the despotism of a Saxon Government ; when an
O'BRIEN has become the panegyrist of pikes, and a
MEAGHER the advocate of armed demonstrations ; 1
when the Nation newspaper is uttering curses upon
the union-jack, and stigmatizing the present advisers
of our Most Gracious SOVEREIGN as the deliberate
murderers of the people, it is surely no exaggerated
anticipation that the death of the Liberator must place
his country in the most imminent jeopardy.
Hence, therefore, are we most solicitous that this
dismal, but still doubtful, intelligence may prove al-
together unfounded. The life of DANIEL O'CONNELL
has been the talisman of peace to Ireland ; if that life
be brought to an abrupt close, the talisman will be
broken, and famine and pestilence will not long
continue the only curses of the peasantry.

The Overland Mail from India, with intelligence
from Bombay to the 15th of April, and from Calcutta
to the Bth ultimo, is unusually barren of news either
from China or from our Eastern dominions. The
commentaries of the local press have chiefly ranged
upon the death of ALB &u KHAN, its immediate
cause, the policy in which he was inclined to plunge
before his career was brought to a sudden and fatal
termination, and the probable political consequences
of the same. Different as are most of the accounts,
the inference appears very strong that the Wuzeer
was carried off by poison ; and though his name will
be chiefly known to history as the inf'amous instigator
of the assassination of Sir WILLIAM 111‘NAUGHTEN,
and the implacable enemy of British rule, every one
must recoil at the horrible means by which his doom
has been sealed. His hatred to the English con-
tinued to the last : he left a considerable sum to be
expended in the resumption of hostili! ies, to which it
is said a large addition has already been made by
others of his relatives. The DOST himself subse-
quently repaired to Jellalabad, and the impression
seems to be that he will continue to co-operate for
the maintenance of good faith between himself and
the authorities of the British Crown. Affairs
throughout the Punjaub are most remarkably
tranquil, so that the inhabitants themselves can
scarcely believe their eountry was se recently the
arena of severe martial conflicts. The Skekawattee
country is suffering terribly from the predatory
warfare pursued by the robber•chief DOONGIIIin
SINGE. Public apprehension has risen to such a height
that merchants are afraid to purchase in the marts,
lest the emissaries of this redoubted robber,
who are spread in all directions, should seize the com-
modities during their conveyance to the consignees.
Government has given its aid to overcome these
desperadoes, who are being most actively followed
throughout the Rajawara districts by our military
forces. _ _

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andlnmitshe NizAM's dominionsmanagementcharacterisethe usallthul
the proceedings
connected with its Government. The Goomsoor
country has been in a great measure relieved from
the disturbances which have so long disgraced
it. The fanatical fury of the Goomsurs in
everything relating to their superstitious rites
is such that nothing short of a powerful
force, combined with energetic counsels, can
preserve peace amongst these infatuated barbarians.
Commercial matters were not very flourishing, and
the markets touch depressed. The subscriptions for
Ithe Scotch and Irish were most liberal.

Letters from Athens of the 10th ins.
t state that
approaching
COLETTI had, in anticipation of the
elections, removed almost all the municipal authori-
ties, and appointed Nomarchs throughout the pis
vinces, from his own partisans. The Opposition, on
the other hand, are urging the people to refuse the
pjy ment of taxes, as the Budget had not bean voted