The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-06 00:00:00

SUN,

MARCH 6, 1846.

squabble. He had on former occasions deprecated the em-
ployment of the paor, in unions in the south of England, in
crushing bones, considering that to be an employment of a
penal and repulsive charater. This mode of employment of
the poor in unions, had been put an end to since January
last, by an order of the Poor-law Commissioners. The diet
of the poor had been altered; and the master objected to in

the Andover union had been removed, and' a master

appointed against whom no complaints had been made. In
future district auditors, and not local ones, would manage
aLd pass the accounts of the union. The Right Hon. Baronet
concluded by moving as an amendment, that a copy of Mr.
PARKER'S report, and the evidence taken before him on the
subject of bone crushing and Mr. M‘DowALL's dismissal,
should be laid on the table and printed.
Mr. WAKLEY felt himself to be in a most awkward posi-
tion, because he was favourable both to the motion and the
amendment. He thought the best course would be to ad-
journ the debate, until the papers had been laid on the table
and printed. Ile was as anxious as any man not to throw
any delay in the way of the debate on the corn-laws, but
he must confess that lie looked upon this as something more
than a workhouse squabble. He trusted the Right Hon.
Baronet would withdraw his amendment, because it might
be looked upon out of doors as a desire to put an end to in-
quiry into the complaints of the poor. He hoped the Hon.
Baronet would make his amendment a substantive motion,
and support that of the Hen. Member for Andover.

Mr. en MITIE defended the course pursued by Mr. PARKER,
and called upon the House to grant a Committee of Inquiry.
He looked upon the amendment of the Right Hon. Baronet
as a mere juggle, and if the Right Hon. Baronet was deter-
mined to stacd by the decision of the Poor-law Commis-
sioners in dismissing Mr. PARKER, he (Mr. CHRISTIE)
should feel it to be his duty, when the question of their sa-
laries came before the House, to do all in his power, in con
junction with other Members, to prevent their receiving
them until justice had been done to Mr. PARKER.

Sir J. GRAHAM said that Mr. PARKER had evinced such

l'edltiptisltrisn'or tovratds bis employers, th 6
Peor-law Commissioners, as, in his opinion, fully justified
them in dismissing him from their service.
Mr. FERRAND thought that it had been clearly shown
that the subject now under discussion was not a workhouse,
but a SAnerset-house squabble.
After some observations from Captain Pechell, Sir. R.
Inglis, Mr. T. Duncombe, Mr. P. Borth% ick, Mr. Hume
Lord Pollington, Mr. J. Jervis, General Johnson, Mr.
Aglionby, Mr. Sharman Crawford, and Mr. Fielden,
Sir J. GRAHAM withdrew his amendment, stating that he
would make it a substantive motion ; but, with respect to the
amendment, of which notice had been given by the Hon.
Member for Weymouth, to extend the inquiry to the causes
which led to the dismissal of Mr. PARKER, he felt bound to
give it his most strenuous opposition.
Mr. CHRISTIE then moved his amendment, which 'Ras to
the effect of extending the inquiry into the conduct of the
Poor-law Commissioners and their late Assistant-commis-
sioner, Mr. PARKER, in reference to the two investigations
held at Andover, and into all the circumstances under which
the Poor-law Commissioners called upon Mr. PARKER to
resign his Assistant-commissionership.
After a short discussion, the House divided, and the amend-
ment of Mr. CHRISTIE was carried by a majority of 23, there
being 92 in its favour and 69 against it.
The m iglus' motion of Mr. ETWALL, and the amendment
of Mr. CHRISTIE, were both of them adopted.
Mr. COWPER then moved for copies of dispatches received
by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs containing in-
formation about the persecution inflicted upon the Bazilian
nuns of Minsk.

Mr. WYsE seconded the motion.
Sir R. PEEL said that the Government had not received
any official documents from the Government of Russia upon
the subject. The only information that had been received
was from the British Consul at Warsaw, who stated his
belief that no such atrocities had taken place ; or if they
had they had been greatly exaggerated. He would advise
the House to be careful how it set the example of interfering
with the domestic affairs of other nations.
The motion was withdrawn after a short discussion.

Mr. NEWDEGATE postponed his motion relative to frau-
dulent and vexatious objections to votes in Warwickshire
and Staffordshire to Tuesday next.
In answer to a question from Mr. P. IIowARD,

Sir R. PEEL said he proposed going on with the Com-
mittee on the corn-laws to-morrow evening, before the
Committee of Supply.

The other orders of the day were then disposed of and the
House adjourned.

The intelligence brought by the Overland Mail, which left
Bombay on the 3d ult., is altogether satisfactory, and fur-
nishes many interesting details of the splendid victories of
the 18th, 21st, and 22d of December, the movements of the
Seikh armies, the state of Lahore, the present position and
strength of the respective forces on each bank of the Sutlej,
and the preparations made by Sir HENRY HARDINGE to
take vengeance on a lawless army and a worthless Govern-
ment, who, without the slightest provocation, had compelled
him unexpectedly to engage in a fierce and determined war.
It is evident from every new circumstance brought to light,
that the Indian Government had no intention of in-
vading the Punjaub. A very small army up to the
month of November was stationed at a moderate
distance from the frontier; there were no heavy guns,
no battery, and the amount of ammunition was so small that
it was exhausted before the Anglo-Indian army wis certain
of the victory. This is to be attributed partly to the peace-
ful disposition of the Indian authorities and partly to a con-
viction on the part of the Governor-General, that for this
spring and summer at least, attempts by negotiations alone
would be made to place the Punjaub in some order, or at
all events secure the British territory against invasion. Both
the Government and the Governor-General have been de-
ceived on these points, and nothing now is left for them but
to muster all the British forces within a reasonable space,
and carry on the war with energy, and a full determination
to put down a body of troops alike dangerous to their
own country and all their neighbours. We can have
no security in that quarter by any other means;
the Indian Government cannot afford to keep a large army
on the frontier, to the danger of the rest of Hindostan where
any dissatisfaction prevails, and at an enormous expense,
merely because the Government at Lahore is too weak and
disorganised to furnish any pledge of peace, or make due
compensation for the severe losses and outlay already caused
by their imbecility and want of faith. With these views the
Governer-General is, according to the present accounts,
making every preparation for a decisive contest, he is con-
centrating forces from all quarters, collecting ammunition
and large guns in great quantities, making arrangements for
passing the river, meeting the enemy in another pitched
battle, and marching to the capture of Lahore. This
great undertaking has come upon him by sur-
prise, and his troops have suffered severely
from this very circumstance—placing too much
confidence in the word of barbarians, and obeying to the
letter the instructions received from the India Board ;
but he now sees that there is no middle course, and that the
time is come for either occupying the whole of the Punjaub,
or establishing such a Government and such an army as
will be pledges of order for the future. The force under his
command at the present moment cannot amount to fewer
than fifty thousand men, well provided with artillery, some
of the guns of large calibre, and fully equal to those of the
Seikhs, independent of an army under the gallant Sir
C. NAPIER, amounting, according to different accounts,
from 10,000 to 15,000 men—still flushed with the victories
of Meanee and Hyderabad, and longing to meet ,
those Seikh troops whose fame for bravery and j
military skill is well knorn lin Sinde. When the armies
again meet the British will be placed in a very different
situation from that in which they lately fought, under so
many disadvantages. Then every circumstance but the
skill and bravery of the officers and men was against them.
They did not muster one quarter of the troops opposed to
them, they had no guns of any use against heavy artillery
they had not even atnunition ; the musket and bayonet were
their only weapons, and with these they triumphed. If they
took ninety guns by such means, what can oppose them
when properly girt for the battle ? If one feature in the late
'settles is more striking than another, it is the total inability
of the Seikhs to fight in the open plain, and without guns in
position. Their infantry and cavalry absolutely did nothing;
they rarely or never came in contact with the British, and
if they did they fled like sheep. They have no confidence in
manceuvres, or generalship, or a fair open fight. Like the
Spaniards, they fight desperately behind walls, but make a
sad exhibition when they meet cavalry or infantry hand to
hand. These facts our troops know, and they will take advan-
tage of them. Besides, the chiefs of Lahore are divided among
themselves, and it is not at all improbable that Sir HENRY
HARDINGE will find allies on the other banks of the Sutlej.
But, whether or not, the fate of the campaign is certain, and
in a few days after his rassage of the river he will be below
the walls of Lahore. The next accounts, therefore,
will be looked to with great interest. For other
points, to which we have not adverted, we refer the
reader to the minute and lengthened details given in the
papers and letters just received from India, and also to the
communications furnished from Lahore. The public will be
glad to find that Sir HENRY Hauntsair has anticipated the
favourable opinions expressed in both Houses of Parliament
respecting the conduct of the 62d Regiment, and that he
has borne incentestible evidence to the noble manner in which
they endured as long as human strength could endure, the
awful fire showered upon them in such torrents from the
enemy's entrenchments. The report of a repulse sustained
by some Sepoys, near Loodianah, does not appear entitled to
the slightest credit.

Government is evidently convinced of the necessity which
exists for some immediate settlement of the great commercial
question now before Parliament ; it perceives the injurious
consequences which must inevitably result to a nation so pe-
culiarly mercantile as Great Britain from any protracted
delay in the transition of its commercial policy. That our

PRICE SD.

trade, both internal and international, is clogged by the non-
completion of the measures now filtering through the House
of Commors ; that agricultural and manufacturing industry
must continue in a state of comparative torpor until Sir
ROBERT PEEL'S propositions have passed into a law ; and
that all wholesome competition, either among merchants, or
tenant-farmers, or the industrial classes generally, will, by
necessity, remain almost in complete stagnation until
protection is actually, as well as virtually defunct, is ac-
knowledged by the very Ministerial prospectus upon which
the future proceedings of the representatives are to be regu-
lated. The Prime Minister has intimated his determination
to impel the various clauses of his statement, relating par-
ticularly to food, through the lower House, and to give them
this impulsion likewise, as vigorously, as earnestly, and as
speedily as circumstances will permit. In proof of his
sincerity in this announcement Sir ROBERT PEEL brings
forward his scheme of "Customs and Corn Importation" this
evening before the Committee, resolved that no single move-
ment which is available shall be neglected, and brought to
this resolution, without doubt, as mach from a knowledge of
the evils which would arise from any postponement,
as from a conviction of the blessings which woulu
in like manner flow from a speedy acceptance
of his measures. Upon a position of affairs, there-
fore, so propitious to the English people, we are most
heartily rejoiced. We congratulate our fellow-countrymen
upon the anxiety evinced by their rulers not merely to
annihilate their grievances, but to do so forthwith ; and, as it
tends to expedite that annihilation, inasmuch as
it leaves the Ministry without any incumbrance
upon the action of its plans—the field entirely
open for its progression—we must yet again express our
satisfaction that the amendment introduced by Mr. CHARLES
VILLIERS has been definitively disposed of, and the question o f
free trade reduced once more to the practicable views of Sir
ROBERT. The minority by which that amendment was
negatived has been, we repeat it, a source of since re
gratification to ourselves, since in that minority we perceive
'a petit -escaped. Had As prateztioniata, for iSamPlei
Kith the mere vexatious intention of harassing the present
Ministry, and of placing Sir ROBERT'S influence in jeopardy,
sided with the Hon. Members comprised in that minority,
the effects of that hollow co-operation, to say the very least
of it, would have proved most prejudicial to the glorious
cause for whose success the multitude and the
more enlightened of the Legislature are striving together;—
it might possibly (and not improbably) have rendered
the continuance of the present Government in office most
dubious. At the smallest calculation, it would have weakened
a Ministry previously of very great and very beneficent
strength, while the ultimate triumph of the amendment
would have still remained more than simply questionable.
It would have been an ignis fatuus a chimera
a shibboleth —an illusion. Hence, as deserting the
substantial for the visionary, the quiet overthrow of
that amendment was, as we have already intimated, a sub-
ject to us of sincere self-gratulation. At the same time, let
it be particularly observed, we do not intend by these ex-
pressions to impute any but the most reasonable, the
most laudable, and the most comprehensible motives to
the Honourable Gentleman who introduced that
amendment to the House of Commons. His position was
peculiar, and, as such, it is deserving of every possible con-
sideration. The anxiety for an immediate repeal of those
obnoxious laws which had hitherto prevented a just and ade-
quate importation of provisions, was an anxiety generated,
so to speak, in the Anti-Corn-law League; it consti-
tuted, in fact, the paramount object for which
that noble Association bad so long and so manfully
striven. With the very name of the League immediate repeal
was associated in the popular mind, and to the members of
that extraordinary body thousands were undoubtedly look-
ing for a visible fulfilment of its engagements, for a Parlia-
mentary demonstration in favour of immediate repeal, for an
amendment, in short, precisely tallying with the one pro-
pounded by the Hon. Member for Wolverhampton. A movement
of this identical description was, we may say with perfect
accuracy, incumbent upon some one amongst the legislators
associated with the League. They could not possibly act
otherwise without some claim upon general reprobation ; the
formality of an amendment was necessary for their character,
inasmuch as they conscientiously believed the advantage of an
immediate abolition of the Customs duties. Mr. VILLIEBS
was selected as spokesman, and surely a fitter person than
the Hon. Member for Wolverhampton could not have been
chosen. Mr. VILLIERS had unquestionably fought through
"good repute and evil repute" for those principles which
are so speedily to become incorporated with our constitu-
tion, and therefore was a most proper and north), exponent
of the League and of its aspirations. Some individual
must have introduced au amendment of this nature—the Hon.
Members for Stockport, or Durham, or Mr. Ginsole, or
any other, in fact, of the Parliamentary Leaguers. Mr.
VILLIERS was selected, performed his part with perfect
honour and consistency to himself, and was defeated. We
refer to these particulars from a feeling ofjustice: we do not
wish to palliate Mr. VILLIERS or the League, because they
require no palliation. They had a certain specific act to per-
form, in consummation as it were of all their previous exer-
tions ; that same act has been performed with all due solem-
nity. Nevertheless, in exonerating the several mem-
bers of the Anti-Corn-law League, and Mr. Vu.uxi.s
amongst the number, from any pertinacious proceeding, we
must take leave expressly and emphatically to repeat our
satisfaction at the circumstance of Sirß. PEEL'S policy being
now left entirely to i s own exclusive merits as the only
possible and practicable free-trade scheme that could have
been devised.

We have received Madrid journals of the 26th ult. Two
Bills of considerable importance were brought before the
Chamber of Deputies on that day. The first was a Bill to
indemnify the lay proprietors of tithes, which underwent
some discussion, and the other a Bill presented by the Fi-
nance Minister for the endowment of public worship and the
clergy. By the last the Minister proposes to set apart for
the Church the revenues of the patrimonial property now ad-
ministered by the clergy, the amount of the obligations con-
tracted by the purchasers of national domains, and provide
for the arrears due to the clergy by means of an issue of
Three per Cent. Stock.

The Three per Cents. closed at 3034 for cash, and 31% al
60 days, and the Five per Cents. at 22 at 60 days.

The Paris papers are much occupied with the affairs of
Poland, which excite great uneasiness fur the fate of the
unfortunate Poles, who may, with almost certain prospects of
destruction, rush into a contest with the three great Powers
—Austria, Russia, and Prussia. Against such fearful odds
there is not the slightest chance of success, for the end will
only be military executions, banishments, and confiscations.
If we are to credit some of the German journals the Poles
had been successful in some instances, and the regular
troops, as at Cracow, had been obliged to retreat. It is
stated in a letter from Vienna, dated the 25th of February,
that General DE COLLIN had been compelled to evacuate the

town of Cracow, as the number of troops under his com-
mand was too small to resist the rebels, and as he was afraid

that they would gain the
passage of the Vistula, near
Podgorize, and thus extend the revolution to theinterior.
He waspost without an 'attack
from theable rebels.
Frankfort journal states, from Vienna,
to
Ach
Fern d secure this
an
that several officers have been arrested in Gallicia, on suspicion
of their being concerned with the revolutionary movement. The
Journal des Debars gives rather a long summary of events
supposed to have taken place, and from that we should infer
that the proposed insurrection has branches in the three dif-
ferent divisions of Poland belonging to the partitioning
powers. But even the accounts in this official journal are
either contradictory or little to be depended upon. That
journal says :-" It appears that the conspiracy had very
wide ramifications, proving its gravity, and that it has been
kept up notwithstanding the arrests made at Posen four
months previously, and in face of the prosecutions com-
menced by the Government. The greater part of the Polish
nobles, not only the younger branches, but fathers of fami-
lies, are involved in these plots. Did we not know that we
are bound to receive with the greatest reserve the reports
disseminated by. the German press, we should have sufticient
motives for doing so on seeing it announce, as from
authority, that Prince CzARTORYSKI and Count Z good
Amoiski
had arrived with the intent of taking part in the insurrec-
tion, while all the world knows that neither of those two
noble Poles had left Paris. From all these
are still but very imperfect, it would be ditilarticulars, which
conclusion as to the precise plans a d objects of the con-
cult to draw any
spirators." It also remarks, with toon
news from Poland is calculated to inuch truth, that the
emotions, and that it can only Produce
view. none but painful
with grief a movement, the issue of which is but too certain. Some additional
intelligence from Algiers had been received at Paris, but
it adds nothing to the
previous communications,
The Moniteur cont • ams a royal ordonnance, reducing the
duty on salt, fixed at 30 centimes the kilogramme,
by tho Act
of December, 1814, to Ilve centimes, when the article has been
mixed with other matters, so as to be incapable of being
turned to account except as food for cattle. 'lbis is no relief
to the poor people, who are still to pay an enormous tax on
this necessary of life.
The Three per Cents. elosed at 114 f. 75c. • the Five per Cents.,
1231. 75c. ; the Orleans Railroad shares, 1,3401. • Rouen, 1,072t'
' .
50c. ; Havre, 756f.251. ; Great Northern, 796 f. 25c. ; Avignon, 1,5171.
50c.; Yierzen, 760.; Bordeaux, 570 f. ; Boulogne, 530 f. ; Basle. 251 f.
25c. ; Dieppe, 450 f.; Paris and Strasburg, 553 f. 74c. ; Tears and
Nantes, 4821. 40c. ; Paris and Lyons, 633 f. ; Spanish Three per
Cents., 3$ ; Spanish Passives, 6.
The following are the quotations for other lines :-
Lyons and Avignon (Talabot), 6121. 50c. ; ditto (Lecointe), $O5l.
50c.; ditto (Compagnie Aterldienale), 502 f. 75c.; ditto, Delinitives
575 f. ; Bordeaux and Cette (Itackeazie), $O3l. 50c. ;ditto (Espeleta),
412 f.; Caen (Delainarre), 503 f. ; Charleroi, 497 f

BUSLNESS DONS 'IN FOREIGN RIILWA.TB AT TIE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, DITCH
Boulogne aid Amiene, 103 i Rhenish, 13A—East Indian, I
—Great Northern of France Constitute 1634 —italian and Austrian,
li,4—Jamaica South Mldltuld .111c.,tipp, 2% —Luxembourg. 2%—
Orleans and Vierson, 19 4-Trinijad, .1

R4IIM4T SPEED.—The Sun newspaper, which sot
the example in expediting important intelligence throughout
the kingdom by means of Express editions,
has fully main-
tained its character during the late debate. On Saturday, an
early edition of that influential and well-conducted journal
anticipated even the Times in almost every place whither
both papers were sent. We bays been—in common with the
rest of the press—under so many obligations to The Sun,
that we have great gratification in thus announcing how—
for the two. hundredth time—it has communicates intelli-
gence to the public in advance of all competitor.—Railway
Exprett,