The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-26 00:00:00

triening

LONDON, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1846.

The Lords did not sit yesterday.
The Commons met at twelve.
S2veral Railway Bills were read a second time without
opposition.
On the motion that the Edinburgh and Glasgow and Scot-
tish Central Junction Railway Bill be read a second time,
Mr. F. MAIULE moved that it be read a second time that
day six months.
After a lengthened discussion, the motion for the second
reading was carried by a majority of six; the numbers being
40 in favour of the motion, and 36 against it.
Mr. F. MAULS then moved the order of the day for going
into Committee on the Turnpike Roads (Scotland) Bill
. _ . ....

S:r J. M4TAGGART opposed the motion. The House was
subsequently addressed by Mr. FORBES, Mr. P. M. STEWART.
Mr. B. DENISON, Mr. Honcsort, Mr. F. MACKE N ZIE, and Mr,
H. DRUMMOND.

After which a division took place, when there appeared—
For the motion, 30; against it 18 ; majority for the motion, 12.
The House then resolved itself into a Committee on the
Bill, and several of the clauses were carried by very narrow
majorities. Ultimately,
➢lr. Fox M4I3LE intimated that it was not his intention
to proceed further with the Bill, and the House resumed.
Mr. F. MAcxeNzig gave notice that on Friday he should
move for a Select Committee to inquire into the mode of
granting licenses to public houses in Scotland.
The House adjourned at Half-past Four o'clock.

The Indian mail, put on board the steamer Virago, se
Alexandria, on the 9th inst., we regret to state has not
yet arrived, and no satisfactory accounts of that vessel
had reached Marseilles by the latest intelligence from
that quarter. Much anxiety, therefore, prevails for the
safety of the passengers and crew, but strong hopes
are entertained that the steamer sent out by the Gover-
nor of Malta to the relief of the Virago, would reach
her in time. The news expected by the mail has, how-
ever, fortunately been anticipated by the Bombay Times,
published on the 15th of February, which contains a
general order by the Governor-General of India, announc-
ing the important victory gained by the British forces
over the Seikhs at Aliwal, on the 28th January, together
with the dispatch of Sir 11. SMITH, describing the battle,
its results, and the judicious arrangements made for
rendering it decisive, and decisive it has been to the
fullest expectation. One dispatch, however, is still want-
ing, namely, that relative to the attack made by the
Seikhs on the British troops while Sir HARRY SMITH
was forming a junction with Colonel GODBY ; but from
all accounts the loss was very small, and the General
acted with great prudence in avoiding a general engage-
ment before the proper opportunity had arrived. Indeed,
throughout the whole of the military proceedings, from
the 21st to the 28th, he appears to have acted with con-
summate skill as a commander. He did not rush into
battle without preparation or foresight; he submitted
to the trifling loss of some baggage, but kept the
main object in view—the certain mei utter defeat
of the troops opposed to him. The result, when
all the circumstances became known, fully justified this
prudent conduct, for he had opposed to him the very
best troops in the Seikh army—namely, those which
had been so thoroughly drilled and disciplined under
the immediate eye of General AVITABILE, and which
were called the " Avitabiles," in honour of this Neapoli-
tan officer. The General deserves praise, also, for the wise
and humane provision made for the relief of the wounded.
Owing, says he, to the judicious arrangements of Dr. MUR-
RAY, field. surgeon, every wounded officer and soldier was
placed under cover, and provided for soon after dark,
and on the 29th, the day after the battle, the whole of
the wounded were moved to Loodianah, for the sake of
accommodation and comforts which could not be given
them in the field. What will strike:the reader most,
next to this humane conduct, is the admirable order in
which the British force was arrayed. They were all
properly organised and brigaded on the morning of the
28th, so as to render them manageable in action, and
they started for the contest alike prepared to march
or fight the enemy at a minute's notice. "The ad-
vance," says the General, " was steady, my troops well
in hand, and if the enemy had anticipated me on the
Jugraon road, I could have fallen upon his centre with
advantage." Fortunately, for good generals are also
fortunate if we are to believe the Romans, both the
ground and the weather were most favourable for his
purpose. The scene just previous to the onset is well
drawn, and the orderly manner in which the advance
was made exhibits in the most striking manner the con-
fidence of the troops under his command. "As I
neared the enemy, the ground became most favourable
for the troops to manoeuvre, being open and hard grass
land. I ordered the cavalry to take ground to the right
and left by brigades, thus displaying the heads of the in-
fantry columns, and as they reached the hard ground I
directed them to deploy into line. Brigadier GODBY'S
brigade was in direct echellon to the rear of the right, the
Shekawattee Infantry in like manner to the rear of my left,
the cavalry in direct echellon on, and well to the rear
of both flanks of the infantry. The artillery massed on
the right, and centre, and left. After deployment I ob-
served the enemy's left to outflank me, I therefore broke
into open columns and took ground to my right ; when
I had gained sufficient ground, the troops wheeled into
line ; there was no dust, the 61111 shone brightly. The
manoeuvres were performed with the celerity and pre-
cision of the most correct field day. The glistening of
the bayonets and swords of this order of battle was most
imposirg, and the line advanced. Searce'y had it moved
forward 150 yards when at ten o'clock the enemy opened
a fierce cannonade from his whole line." And to the
honour of the native troops, we ought not to omit
to state, that, in almost every instance, they rivalled
the European regiments, and had, with the assistance
only of one regiment, the glory of defeating the " Avita-
biles." Upon the left, Brigadier WILSON, with her
MAJESTY'S 53d and 30th Native Infantry, equalled in
celerity and regularity their comrades on the right,
and this brigade was apposed to the " Aieen" troops,
called Avitabiles, when the battle was fiercely
raging ; and, is another attack, a native corps
nobly obeyed orders, rushed among the Avitabile
troops, drove them under a bank, and thus exposed
them to the deadly fire of twelve guns within 300 yards.
But it is needless to give more details. The battle was
in every part favourable to the British forces, and that
owing as much to the prudence and skill of the General
as to the marked superiority of the troops under his
command. Sir HARRY SMITH has well merited the
thanks of Parliament and other more substantial honours
for one of t=ie most decided victories on record, and
gained, too, with comparatively small loss of life.
Since the above was in type, we have learned with
great satisfaction the safe arrival of the India mail and
the Virago steamer at Marseilles.

Every heart capable of sympathising in a reverence
for liberty—that handmaid of civilisation !—but a few
weeks since was stirred to its innermost depths at the
news that Poland had once more risen to assert its in.
dependence ; that Cracow was taken, and that the troops
of its foreign government were driven back in conster-
nation. Erglishnien, generally, could not but sympa-
thise in this movement ; cognisant of their own felicity
in possessing a political constitution essentially free,
they could not but commiserate the des-
tiny of a great nation, and of an illus-
trious race, subjected to
,the domination of three
separate powers of a most despotic character. It is
indeed from the inhabitants of Great Britain that the
Poles have experienced the most substantial and ser-
viceable signs of esteem ; daring the time of their ap-
parent reconciliation to the authority of their triple-
rulers, English oratory, English poetry, and English
money have been regularly, if not lavishly, devoted to
the solace of the refugees from Poland. Hence it was
that on the arrival of the intelligence from Gallicia
vast ma jos ity of the people of this country participated
in the feeling of patriotism by which the insurgents were
actuated ; and among that majority we confess
that we ourselves felt earnestly. Our sympathy how-
ever was imbued rather with sadness than with hope,
we could not but perceive the unfortunate abruptness of
the outbreak. The scheme was so crude, there was such
a manifest lack of preparation, that we saw only in that
premature ebullition a certainty of greater hardships
than had hitherto been inflicted upon that lan n
d of
martyrs. We appreciated the glorious sentiments i
which that revolution had originated, but we mourned
the calamitous consequences which must ensue. It would
d
indeed be cruelty to assert that the present is not
right time for the emancipation of Poland. Abstractedly
not,
it is the right time ; but practically speaking, it is .
Without the most perfect unanimity on their own part
in action, as well as in thought, and without either the