The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-27 00:00:00

SIR JOHN LITTLER.

Theihfi
to us
the . i
t c
et
continues from time to
oby time Sir
to
experienced Littler in the distribution of honours, and the
Johncal
l
attention
discredit this reflects on the highest civil and
military authorities is India. Disagreeing on a good
many points with our contemporary, we heartily concur
with him in this, and hope that a case of such flagrant
injusice only requires to be kept sufficiently before the
world to secure redress to its victim. One would fancy,
from the manner the gallant and able defender of
Ft rozepore has been treated, that some grave and un-
disposed-of imputation lay at his door—that he, and
not Brigadier Reid, was the party who for a moment
brought the good conduct of her Majesty's 62d Regi-
ment into suspicion, and that, instead of stating a fact as
he observed it, adding the only solution that could pos-
sibly have occurred to him, he had been guilty of rash-
ness or indiscretion in giving too ready an ear, or too
inconsiderate a currency, to an invidious and ill-
grounded report. It is true the Commander-in-Chief
declares him blameless, but declines permitting the
fullest of acquittals to be given to the world. He be-
stows on him the most important and delicate command
he can confer in evidence of his opinion, but he declines
influencing that of the authorities at home, originally
biassed by the most groundless of prejudices. The
judiciousness of the selection that has been made in the
Lahore command has been proven by the uniform ex-
perience of six months; the value of the defence of
Ferozepore, and the baselessness of the prejudice by
which its defender suffered, cool reflection must have
abundantly established. It is, we most readily admit,
notwithstanding our prepossession in favour of the
Governor-General, a sad slur on both him and the
Commander-in-Chief, that matters should remain as they
are; it is a piece of pitiful littleness we were not pre-
pared for at all.

(From the Overland Calcutta Star, Sept. 7.)
LAHORE.—A few days ago we were " frightened from
our propriety" by the intelligence, through that ordinarily
(or rather extraordinarily) correct journal, the Delhi
Gazette, that Lall Singh had been assassinated while

riding out in the morning. The date of the event was
put down for the 18th, but it ultimately turned out that
there was not the slightest foundation for the event ;
Lall Singh having been neither Fieschi-ed, nor other-
wise considered (as German metaphysicians say) in an
objective light, about that period. There cannot be much
difference of opinion as to Lall Singh's ultimate fate if
he continues at Lahore after the British force shall have
quitted it.
Dewan Moolraj continues negotiating. In his latest
protocol he states himself to be willing to pay the balance
of 18 lakhs required by the Durbar, and to admit officers
appointed by the Durbar to the command of forts within

his jurisdiction, but he asks as a counter-agreement the
consent of the Durbar to credit him with the value of
the stores and munitions of war in those forts as a set-off

against the claim. The Dewan still claims English in
terference and arbitration.

From Peshawur, it would appear, that the Yoosoof-
zaie insurrection had been put down, and that Shere
Singh was on the bank of the A ttock, preparing to follow
up his success by the pursuit of:the ringleader Ursulla
Khan, when he received a summons to appear at Lahore,
giving up charge of his forces and functions to Chittur
Singh. He announced his readiness to obey the recal,
and stated that a number of officers of his, who had long
been away from court, were desirous to pay their re-
spects at the royal levee along with himself, a royal
yearning that was over-rudely chilled by orders to them
return to their duties at Peshawur.

Matters are evidently in statu quo, all eyes being
directed. to British movements, and all efforts to the
fabrication of excuses for consuming time till the retire-
ment of the British army leaves the " strong Govern-
ment" to manifest its capabilities. Major Lawrence is
busy in the Jullundur Duab, and Major M'Gregor has
proceeded thither to join him, the representative at the
Durbar being Mr. John Lawrence, brother of the agent.
Jemoo.—lt would appear from the return of the Go-
vernor of the Hazareh province to Lahore, that the
boundaries between the sovereignties of Lahore and
Jamoo have been demarcated by commission. We have
not, however, had any formal announcement to that
effeet. The Star stated a few days ago that a commis-
sion, consisting of Mr. Vans Agnew, of the civil service,
and Captain Cunningham, of the Engineers, had been
appointed to lay down the boundaries between Ghoolab
Singh's territories and our own, and also between Ghoolab
Singh and the Tartars. The whole of the tales, current
about the time the last mail was dispatched, of differ-
ences between the British and Ghoolab Singh, and the
latter's running restive on being called upon to fulfil the
stipulated conditions to which he had previously sub-
scribed, are, we have reason to believe, without the
smallest foundation. Several of our young officers have
been touring through his states, in various directions,
on pleasure parties or with scientific objects in view,
and have been uniformly treated with consideration and
kindness.

NORTH-WESTERN FRONTIER.—We learn from private
letters that the dubious aspect of Lahore politics has
determined the stay of the Governor-General in the
neighbourhood of that country. The political officers
have accordingly prepared to locate themselves at Simla
during the ensuing year. Lord Hardinge proposes to
tour through the Jullunder Doab and along our frontier,
holding a grand fair at Hooshearpore (anglice, wide-a-
wake town), and it is not improbable that his Lordship
will follow up with success a consolidating and peace
policy, if the sequence of events across the Sutlej do not
compel a recurrence to arms. We have heard nothing
further of the expected army of observation, the reports
concerning which we noted last mail; but we have con-
fidence in Lord Hardinge that he will not hazard a
second campaign like that of 1845-46.
There has been a slight disturbance at Ferozepore
between the Hindoos and Mahomedans, of some corps
there, in which blood was drawn and life lost; but we
believe the matter has been fully inquired into, and the
causes of disunion removed, as well as the promoters of
the disturbance traced.
At Loodianah we have probably been saved by an in-
dividual accident from a repetition of the dreadful loss of
life which by the last mail we see has occasioned such a
sensation in England. The debris of the unfortunate
50th Queen's, not finding sufficient accommodation in
their own quarters, and the Horse Artillery being now
cantoned at Umballah, a general order was issued to fit
up the f,,,rmer hospital of the Horse Artillery for the use
of the 50th. It appears the preparations went on for
some time, when, on the 12th of August, the falling of
a pillar, which killed a mason employed on the repairs,
seems for the first time to have suggested the necessity
of an examination into the trustworthiness of the mate-
rials constituting the original building. A committee
was ordered to report, and they reported that the build-
ing " should be condemned as totally rotten and un-
serviceable." We cannot imagine anything more cul-
pably careless than seems to have been the conduct on
this occasion, supposing always the information to be
correct, which we derive from the Mofussillite. That
men should be ordered into quarters, into the stability of
which not the slightest inquiry has been made, is a spe-
cimen of inattention to the lives of our troops that can-
not too strongly meet reprehension. It matters little who
is the particular individual in fault ; the department is
answerable for it, and the consequences are too serious
to allow matters to be minced.
AFFGELANISTAN.—The reconciliation of the Ameer
Dost Mahomed and his son has been followed by consi-
derable devotion to business on the part of both, and
events have furnished them with business enough. The
chronicler of the Delhi Gazette reports that the Ameer
held a general muster of his troops, and to insure their
attendance circulated an un-official rumour that its ob-
ject was to pay up their arrears. Whether the review
was brilliant or otherwise the deponent does not testify,
but the rumour appears to have been the cause of serious
disturbance. Finding their pay not forthcoming the
artillery seized their commander, Shah Mahomed Khan,
as a hostage for the performance of what they consi-
dered a promise, and the mutiny assumed a formidable
appearance. Force was at first sought to be resorted to,
to crush the demonstration; but the infantry were found
to be as refractory as the artillery, and concession as the
alternative was then attempted. A sum of money was
forwarded to the artillery, and a solemn promise with it
that their arrears should be discharged within the fol-
lowing month. The measure was successful, but the
next day the infantry followed the example of the artil-
lery and mutinied for pay. They, too, achieved success,
the Ameer being compelled to borrow money for partial
discharge of the arrears; and there the matter rests till
the Ameer's promissory notes fall due.
There is some mysterious hint given about a nego-
tiation endeavoured to be opened by the Ameer with the
British—a thing we apprehend considerably more likely
than any negotiation with the Persian Sovereign. The
source from which we draw, which will be found in
another column, talks about the Ameer wishing the Bri-
tish to be on the same terms with him as Shah Soojah,
and says that he (the Ameer) " is most willing to receive
similar support on the same conditions, being most
anxious to enter into a treaty by which he might derive
some benefit." We have little doubt of the sincerity of
the Ameer in such a wish, seeiug the state of his trea•
sury as above evidenced. What a Whig Ministry and a
Hobhouse Board of Control may see fit to do with Cen-
tral-Asian relations remains for the womb of time to
show. The notorious Ameenoolah has been released at
the intercession of the Candahar sirdars, and so has
Sultan Jan Khan—both names familiar to the readers
of the numberless volumes generated by the Affghan
campaign.
TENASSERIM PROVINCEB.—In our last we referred to
several arbitrary acts alleged to have been committed by
Captain Durand, and the commissioner of these provinces.
It has since transpired that as regarded Major M‘Leod and
Captain Sharp, the deputy governor of Bengal has passed a
verdict of not guilty, and restored tln*c ofiners with honour
to their situations. A recent arrival of the Tenasserim
has, however, brought us intelligence of an act so arbi-
trary that we feel sure it cannot escape the notice of

Government. The facts appear to be these:—Captain
Durand, annoyed by the strictures of the Moulmein
Chronicle upon his conduct, resolved to enforce any law
that might be deemed applicable to apply to the circum-
stances to suppress that journal. To this end, Captain
Durand applied specifically to Government to ascertain
whether the law known as Reg. XI. of 1835, or the
press law, applied in as many words to the Tenasserim
provinces. They were held so to apply, though, haying
some distrust apparently of Captain Durand's judgment,
the Bengal Government required the Commissioner to
explain to the parties concerned in printing, the con-
struction of that Government. The- Government order
was notified to the proprietor of the Moulmein Chronicle,
a Mr. Abren, who finding that he had for some time
rendered himself amenable to the pains and penalties
dwelt on in the Act, proceeded, with as little loss of time
as he could, to comply with the provisions of the Act.
Ills fault had been that his paper had issued a single day
without the name of the printer (he having none) being
attached to the foot of the print. That single appear-
ance determined its fate. An official was found to de-
nounce the obnoxious journal and its illegal proceedings,
and a suit was accordingly filed against them. Instead
of, as one might imagine. a trifling mulct being laid on
for a breach of the law, impossible to be evaded, a sen-
tence was pronounced of two years' imprisonment and
300 rs. fine.

The maximum punishment for the offence in question
is, by law, two years' imprisonment and 5,000 ra. fine.
We must, therefore, conclude that the proprietor of the
Moulmein Chronicle was deemed nearly worthy of the
heaviest punishment by law awarded for a single day's
omission of his printer's name on his publication.
CALcuTrA.—We have not had much worth noticing.
A native committee went up to Government a short time
ago, stating that the police as at present constituted was
utterly inefficient. On the deputy-governor wishing to
have facts to support this opinion, the committee no-
minated a new committee to collect facts, though one
would suppose the facts had been already collected and
arranged before any representation to Government had
been ventured upon. This, however, is not the way
with our local progressives.
A gallery for fine art exhibition has been ordered to
be reported upon by Colonel Forbes. It is to be erected
somewhere on the Esplanade. Government will contri-
bute 45,000 rupees, and the remainder is to be raised by
private subscription—probably in shares.
Government has also nominated a committee of seven
members, four medical and three lay, to examine into
the validity of Dr. Esdaile's mesmeric facts. The mem-
bers of the committee are Dr. Atkinson, Dr. Duncan
Stewart, Dr. Jackson, Dr. O'Shaugnessy, Mr. Rogers,
Mr. Hume, and Mr. Evelyn Gordon.