The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-13 00:00:00

APRIL

VICTORIES OF THE ENGLISH IN

(Frow La Presse.)
" A campaign of less than two months has conducted
the British army to the gates of Lahore. Sir fi. liar
Binge rules in the holy city. The cannons of Mombay
and the Tower of London, and the enthu:ittsvc appliow•
of the house of CommonA, have hailed the metwrable
victory of Aliwal, the Waterloo t f me East IA es, tt
Sir H. 11. loglis exclaim, who does not hesitAte to
place Ge-neral,Sir Cough on a par with Nlarihn. ,tl,ll
and Nelson. This parade of pattegyrici sufficiently

attests the importance attached by our ntighbuurs t,)
the new conquest ; it i 3 at the snore time the highest

glerification of the heroism displayed by the vanquihed.
Five successive battles, fought with an unparalleled bold-
ness and obstinacy, have swallowed up the moiety of an
army of 70,000 men, delnuately struggling fix the de-
fence of their territories ! But who can ees'st the fortune
of England? The kingdom of Runjeet Singh will' so, in be
added as a British provinee to defunct einpites. of
Tippoo Saib, of Timour, of Serarljie; and of Iltilltar. The
Seilths, like the Mahrattes and the Moguls, will only
live, at some future period, in vs collection. Let us
hasten, then, to rescue the name A this valiant nation
before it is eff.sced from the map; let us render a last
homage to this expiring nationality, which reflects, as
it gradually expires, so glorious a lustre. Its history is
worthy of mention ; it is distinguished by a special cha-
racter of independence in the midst of the uniform sub-
jection of the Asiatic tribes. Its history testifies how
•ar the influence of institutions can reg,neraee mankind.
It shows that a race like the Hinilees, winch seems
eternally condemned to vegetate in slavery, may, if it is
delivered from the brutal:zeig yoke of a barbarous reli-
gion, and from the petrity lug division of cables, recon-
stitute a progressive society, and live the life of nations."
La Presse then gives a long and elaborate history of
the Punjaub, which it is net at present our purpose to
quote. nor is it necessary to do so, and resumes his re-
marks as follows
" The pe sent Maharajah of the Seikhs. Dhoule p
Singh, is a child of ten ee ars'Olake. The Seikli army,
formidable by its foree and its discipline, Has the real
power which ruled the Puiiiiub, and the English nave
rendered this fact very clear by their fury in rnassecre-
inn. for a space of two hours, the fugitives in the river,
and by exacting, after -the victory, the disbanding of the
Seikh troops. It is not doubtful, if we judge from the
decision and skilfulness of its movements, that the Seikh
army was directed by European officers ; but the mire-
pidity of which they have given such proofs belongs to
themselves. After the death ce old litinj et singe, the
animosity of the inhabitants of the Punjaub broke out
against the English in a thousand disorders. Thus, the
recent Governments of belie have not ceased to tnein-
tam on the left bark of the Sutlej, at Loodianuh and
at Ferozepore, of wi.ich they are masters, a corps o,
observation for the surveillance of the Seikhs, acid to
interfere immediately circionstawcss had attained the
necessary degree of maturity. A bridge of boats pre-
pared by the English and various other significant mea-
sures having warned the Seikhs of the imminence of an
invasion, th. y decided upon preventing it. Their army
crossed. the Sutlej resolutely attacker! the English camp,
and feught for three whole days the bloodiest and best
disputed battle that the English have encountered since
they set foot iu In,iia. It is this aggression which has
served as a pretext for Sir Henry Ilardinge to justify
the invasion of the Punjaub. England has not always
such good reasons to give, and we must be satisfied with
her—at all events for the care which she takes to have
appearances in her favour.
" We have shown the progress that these conquerors
have made in fifteen years. It was in 1831 that Sir
Alexander Burnes first unfurled the British fl eg on the
Indus. On beholding it, a chief exclaimed—` It is all
over with Snide now that the English know the river
that leads thither.' He was right. The disasters of
Affehanistati did not repel this devout lug ambition, they
only rendered it more circumspect.
"The conquest of the Punjaub is the most important
event in India' history Fillet- the fell of the empire of
Mysi.re; it is the complement of the gigantic work coin
menced by Clive just a century ago, and followed up by
Hastings, Wellesley. and their successors with such per
severing skill. England, Mistress of the Ganges awl
the Indus, reaches the natural limits of her empire from
east to west. On the north, the Himalayas scarcely re-

. - -
wrain by their barrier of 8,000 mires this covetous ge,
nius, always ready to overflow its boundaries. If
however, the pelicy of Eegl:lnd be carried on in confor
mity with wise principles, ,she will not go beyond; and
this seems to be the gist of Sir Robert Peel's words in
concluding his spetch to the House of Commons with
the expression of a hope that henceforth peace will no
more be disturbed in India; which, probably, means that
England for some-time hence will not seek a quarrel
with anybody. . •
The extraordinary enthusiasm excited in London
by the success of Sir 11. Hai (tinge testifies how well
the advantages of his new conquest are comprehended
inihis own country. It is not for vain glory that so re•
fleeting a nation is moved to this de4ree ; and a simple
apergu will suffice to render it apparent.
" 4Vready in 1843 a solemn act incorp irated the
Sinde territory with the Company's puss, scions, after
the Emirs had been crushed in two tiloedy battles. Cer-
tsin grievances, of a futile character. served as the pre-
text for this war. Besides the 1110 of Ellenborough
wanted a success to avenge the dcf. at in the defiles of
Caubul, and to prepare for the invasion of the Punjaub,
the only military read leading to Affghanistan.
annexation of Sinde gave the English all the Lower
Indus ; and the conquest of the Punjaub puts them in
possession of the rest of the river. From Attuck, -at
the foot of the mountains of Caubul, to the sea, the
Indus is navigable for an extent of 500 leagues.
" At present trade is carried on there by flat-bottomed
boats of 50 tons ; in a little while the river will be
ascended by steamers. scattering on both banks the pro-
duce of lilasgow, Birmingham, and Manchester, and re-
ceiving in exchange precious stuffs, the rich and
wondrous works manufactured by the ingenious in-
h•tbitants of those districts. Tette. in. Sinde, supplies
the adjoining countries with figured calicoes and nous-
lins, and clothes the Bayadervs in their scarfs, woven in
gold. Moultan, which has just been annexed, and which
includes more thitt 60,000 souls, in a territory five miles
in length, is peopled %%WI weavers and dy• rs. Cash-
mere, the fabulous valley, renowned in Oriental legends,
and so long coveted by the Compan3, at length falls into
its -hands, and surrenders to it the monopoly, of
the Indian shawls. Runjeet Singh had at Utnritsir
an ehtrepot of cashmeres valued at upwards of
1,250,000,000 f. The revenue from the shawls alone was
worth to that monarch 18 lass of rupees (450,000 0000
By Herat, Caubul, and B. &tiara on the north, and
by the Indus and the Persian Gulf on the south,
the trade of the 5,000,000 or 6,000,000 inhabitants of
Sinde and the Punjaub ahead). supplies Persia, Turkey,
and even Russia with shawls, velvet, satin, and carpets.
Judge, then, what their immense manufactures will be-
come when their produce is a thousand times centupled
by the power of machinery, and regulated by British
intelligence I
"Whatever may be the prejudice of individual politics,
it is impossible not to admire this great destiny of the
English people, bursting in its irresistible expansion.
the last barriers which are opposed by the lethargy of the
East to European activity. By it it must be hop d that
trade will, at no distant p. rind, re.sume its ancient routes
through the massive continent of Asia, intercepted for
800 years by the savage suspicions of hlamism. If the
right of nations and equity .ve often to complsin of the
means employed by Eeglard to attain her object, it is
only Just to admit that no nation more extensively fulfils
its providential mission. In one and the saute year she
opens to herself China, establishes herself in Borneo,
and crosses the Polar Sea. The conquest of the glebe,
commence" in the 16th century by Spain and Portugal,
is completed in the 19th by England ! Is it not time
For France to have h. r turn ? "