The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-03 00:00:00

ettning ui

LONDON, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1848.

Another extraordinary express, in anticipation of
the Overland Bombay Mail, brings addition al intelli-
gence of the position of our forces under the gallant
and indefatigable EDWARDES. It is a circumstance
not unworthy of observation, that we look with in-
terest to the events transpiring in the suburbs of
Mooltan, notwithstanding the remarkable occurrences
which every day, and almost every hour, transpire in
the different kingdoms and principalities of Christen-
dom. Leghorn may be sacked by a gang of political
incendiaries ; Palermo may be bombarded by the
mercenaries of the Neapolitan tyrant ; Baden may
be temporarily transformed into a Republic ; Frank-
fort-on-the-Maine may run with the blood of massa-
cres, and ring with the shrieks extorted from its
citizens by the torturing weapons of insurgent
murderers ; Toulouse may resound with the
shouts of Terrorism ; Catalonia may be dis-
tracted by the movements of CADRERA ;
Denmark in one quarter, and Sardinia in another,
may stand at bay before the formidable armaments
of their Austrian and Prussian assailants, whether on
the frontiers of Schleswig or on the boundary line of
Lombardy—yet the public attention of Englishmen
can find leisure at intervals to gaze beyond the limits
of Europe, beyond Turkey and Persia, to the coun-
tries situated south of the vast plains of the empire of
Tartary. Nor is this surprising when we remember
the immediate interest to ourselves of the movements
now taking place among the provinces of the Pun-
jaub ; and when we bear in recollection, moreover,
the fascination incident to the circumstances which
have illustrated the suppression of the rebellion of the
A..IOOLRA J.

Fortunately for the British Government in Hin-
dostan the rumours which were prevalent at Calcutta
as recently as the 19th of August, to the effect that
Major EDWARDES and his companions had suffered
some " disastrous reverses" under the fortifications of
Mooltan, have been satisfactorily disproved by the
later advice% received from Bombay. So far from
anything approximating to the calamitous having
tended to damp the enthusiasm of the soldiery, under
the command of Major EDWARDES, Colonel CORT.
LANDT, Lieutenant LAKE, EMAIIM-00D-DEEM, and the
representative of the Nawaub of Bahawulpore, it is
certain that renewed courage and confidence had been
imparted to them by the arrival of reinforcements
from Lahore, and by the approaching increase
of their forces by still further aid hastening
towards Mooltan along the rivers of Sutlej,
Chenab, and the Ravee. Nothing can
therefore impede the progress of Major ED-
WARDES to a complete and decisive victory, espe-
cially when it is undoubted that the MOOLRAJ has
only a few light four and six-pounder field-pieces to
oppose to the eighteen and thirty-two •pounders of our
heavy artillery. It is expected, in consequence, that
by this period the city has been captured by the
English, either by storming it at the point of the
bayonet, or by affrighting the inhabitants to a
capitulation by throwing some bombs and rockets
over the ramparts. In either event the MOOLRA3 will
find but a miserable protection in his ten
thousand ruffianly supporters, the very scum
of the Seikh population, men who will
be as little disposed to yield before
the muskets of the Europeans as were the
Beloochees at the battle of Meeanee. Altogether the
insurgent chief appears to be completely surrounded
and circumvented. The jungle has been beaten in a
circle—the circle has been gradually narrowing—by
the next account we fear that we shall be informed of

a terrible battu of the Orientals. Whatever may be
the result, the ultimate dispersion or extermination of
the rebels appears to be inevitable. Precautions have
bean taken too systematically by Major EDWARDES to
admit of merely a partial engagement. In a smaller
way, the struggle at Mooltan promises to be as signal
in its consequences as the tremendous encounter at
Sobraon. A protracted cessation of conspiracies
will follow the destruction of the powers
of the MOOLRAJ. The guile of those Eastern Poten-
tates who are secretly inimical to our authority will
be driven into an unnatural torpor for a period, and
the distinguished behaviour of the subaltern ED-
WARDES will be recompensed not only by the presen-
tation of a gold medal from the Directory in Leaden-
hall-street, but by the renewal of a long interval of
peace and prosperity. That such may be the conse-
quence is most earnestly to be desired by all those
who can sympathise with the ambition of the late
philanthropic DWARKANACTH TAGORR in regard to
the permanent civilization of the Asiatics. For the
advancement of this civilization:peace is the only
possible medium, and with peace we doubt not that
the footsteps of civilization might be soon tracked
even into that extraordinary capital, consisting of " a
labyrinth of lofty alleys, rich with minarets, and bal-
conies, and carved oriels, to which the sacred apes
clung by hundreds, and in the bazaars of which the
muslins of Bengal and the sabres of Oude were min
gled with the jewels of Golconda and the shawls of
Cashmere"—that capital which is known and reve-
renced throughout the East as the holy city of
Benares. In this respect our merchants are the pre-
cursors of our warriors, and our warriors are the
pioneers of civilization.

The trial of Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN was proceeded
with on Friday and Saturday, and it is now, in all
human probability, verging on its conclusion. Indeed,
it may reasonably be expected, that the verdict will
be returned this ♦ery day. The first question that
arose on Friday morning related to the composition
of the jury. The Learned Counsel for the defence
having failed in the challenge to the array, which he
had preferred the preceding day, applied to the Court
that the jury should be selected by ballot in place of
being taken in the order in which they had been
placed by the High Sheriff. A similar application had
been successfully made in the case of the Monmouth
Chartists, the then Attorney-General, Sir JOHN (now
Lord) CAMPBELL, having made no objection thereto.
The Attorney-General for Ireland, however, resisted
the motion on the present occasion, stating, "that if
he yielded thereto it would imply that he conceived
the Sheriff had not fairly and impartially discharged
his duty in arraying the panel, and that he must,
therefore, object to any departure from the usual
practice." Now, with all respect for the opinion of
the Learned Gentleman, we cannot conceive that any
such implication could for a moment follow the con-
Sir JOHN CAMPBELL did not cast any
censure upon the High Sheriff of Monmouth when
he declared " that it seemed to him a matter of the
most perfect indifference in what manner or order
the several jurors were called to the box." Neither
is it supposed to imply a condemnation
of that officer, that the juries, in Nisi Prim cases,
where civil questions only are disposed of, are inva-
riably ballotted for from the general list. In Scot-
land, too, in all cases the jury are chosen by ballot
from a list, a copy of which is furnished to the pri-
soner fifteen days before the trial, and the practice
has given universal satiifaction, and has altogether
prevented any of those imputations which, we regret
to say, are so common in Ireland against the com-
position of the juries selected to try political cases.
Where the ballot is allowed you hear nothing of
packed juries, or of parties entering into an investi-
gation whose minds were previously made up as to
what should be the result of the inquiry. It is true,
that these complaints and insinuations are, in the
great majority of cases, without any just or adequate
foundation ; but the administration of justice should
be beyond the reach of calumny—far above suspicion.
And any course that would effect that great deside-
ratum should be immediately adopted, and no matter
of trivial importance or ancient practice should be
permitted to stand in the way of a consummation so
devoutly to be wished for.
• Another point was subsequently raised, it having
been contended that the prisoner was entitled to his
common-law right of challenging peremptorily thirty-
five jurors, notwithstanding the provisions of the
Act for the better administration of justice in Ire-
land, which especially limited the right of the
accused, in cases of treason, murder, or oth.r felony,
to twenty challenges only, except upon due cause
assigned. The Learned Counsel argued that the
word treason in that statute applied to cases of petty
treason only, and that it was so limited i❑ conse-
quence of the context, the words " other felonies
implying that the preceding crimes were of the nature
of felony only. This point was, however, imme-
diately overruled. Indeed petty treason was abo-
lished by a previous Act, passed in the same session,
by which it was enacted (9 George IV., cap.
31, section 2) " that every offence which before
the commencement of this Act would have
amounted to petit treason, shall be deemed to be
murder only, and no greater offence, and all persons
guilty in respect thereof, whether as principals or
accessaries, shall be dealt with, indicted, tried, and
punished as principals and accessaries in murder."
This would clearly imply that the word " treason "
in the subsequent statute (9 George IV., c. 64) could
not mean " petit treason," which at that time had no
existence. The jury was at length formed, the pri-
soner having exhausted the challenges allowed him
by law ; and several parties having also been set aside
on various grounds of objection, twelve gentlemen of
high respectability were sworn in to return a true
verdict in this most important case.
We shall not now, while the case remains sub judice,
make any allusion to the evidence brought forward in
support of the charge, or the statement of the
Attorney-General on behalf of the Crown. Although,
in all human probability, any observations we might
offer could not reach the hands of any parties in the
immediate vicinity where the trials are taking place
until after the termination of the proceedings, it is at
all times more prudent to avoid any topic which, by
the remotest possibility, could in the slightest degree
interfere with the administration of justice, and
create a prejudice for or against the person whose
trial is actually pending. We shall therefore ab-
stain from all comment on the subject until there is
a moral certainty that our remarks cannot in any
manner interfere with the result of the proceedings.

cession.