The Sun.
London, England, 1846-02-23 00:00:00

ViViral% *nu:

LONDON, MONDAY, RITARY 23,

ban
The details of the three days' fighting on the
Sutlej, and the important results brought
b
Mail, will be read with no ordinary- interest,y the
Overlandh
ksof the
gards the actual position of the two armies, and the decided
d Sa
victory obtained obtained by the forces under Sir H. HARomax, theyi
add little to our previous intelligence in the accounts
brought by the previous mail. We knew that there had been
several battles, that the little army under Sir J. LiTri.Eu had
been is great danger, that our troopse had suffervened
the
se_
verely, but that at last they had prvailed, dri
enemy from all his positions, and captured the greater
part of his artillery. These accounts are confirmed
by the present dispatches, and taking all the circumstances
of these repeated engagements into account, we may safely
sny, that in no instance has the bravery of the Anglo-Indian
army appeared in a more conspicuous light, or the skillre, per-
severance,and energy of European commanders, as compared
with those of the Seikhs, ever been so completely placed be-
yond doubt, The army of the Seikhs mustered, according to
different accounts, from 70,000 to 80,000, with from
120 to 140 guns. The British forces consisted of not more
thano 20,000, of which. only 6,000 were Europeans—they had
u pounders; the British fought in detail as they
must necessarily have done from their position and
riniaMiliton and unexpected
aarttaxaccaknobfethieearSeikdhis with such
7 J., rerent reports, make the Seikhs acknowledge idr: u)narens forces, yet •
?...*tages they gained on
A r the age. The accounts,°
1--A‹ *glad and notwithstanding all tieheserodmiaatlidevdifan.-
fasthfe most remarkable victories of
se
swotflitm9hoa t eg guns,
sa
t,
30,000 wounded, with the the
loss
of
9,000
0 .s.thanr Of largA calibre. The British loss is
`,.. 44ogether, including killed and wounded
(1
4mAyaloi:
k lir' .A twice that about*60officers
....- in-
a great loss=

our side shows the furious attack of the enemy, his strong •
force, and above all his superiority in guns, for by these chiefly
wAs the greatest havoc committed. The division uuder General
TATTLER suffered most, because it was first exposed, and
could not be supported in time by the other divisions still at
a distance, but they fought manfully, else, even with com-
mon generalship, they must have been utterly destroyed
The principal loss of general officers indeed took place in
that quarter, and among the rest who fell was the
gallant Sir ROBERT SALE, whose name has been long
celebrated in India, made immortal by his deeds in Affgha-
nistan, and still more ennobled by his firm and high-spirited
conduct on this occasion, when he sacrificed his life to stem
the torrent that was pouring, unexpectedly, upon the British
army. Some of the Indian journals, as well as private
letters, blame Sir HENRY HARDINGE for allowing himself
to be surprised, and risking the utter destruction of his forces
by being beaten in detail. We have not sufficient informa-
tion yet to decide this question, but, as far as we can judge
there is no real ground for the charge. No war had been de-
clared between British India and Lahore ; no
hostilities, in fact, had occurred till this sud-
den irruption. The Governer-General had given
no provocation, and the responsibilty of the con-
test and its results therefore rests entirely on the Seikhs.
Had he concentrated a large army on the banks o
the Sutlej, and threatened to invade; the country
the case would have been different, and the
character of England would have appeared in a
very unfavourable light. The obloquy of commencing
the war must have fallen on us, and besides what would
have been the result? Possibly for a time the two armies
would have remained watching each other, till a collision
took place, but still England would have been in the wrong,
and we doubt much if a more decisive victory could
have been obtained. The Seikhs have lost all their
guns, their main strength ; they are divided among them-
selves, and many
of the authorities of Lahore, and many of
the Seikhs troops also will in the end join the British. The
next mail will bring accounts of the entry of
the British troops into the Punjaub, and probably of the
occupation of Lahore, the capital. One of the India papers,
not much disposed in general to show any partiality to the
army, thus praises rather than blames the policy adopted
by Sir HENRY HARDINGE :—"That the Governor-General was
in some degree taken by surprise—that he was at all
events wholly unprepared for the advance, in the form and at
the time in which it occurred, of the Seikhs
beyond the Sutlej—is sufficiently apparent. Nor is it
at all wonderful, or in the least degree censurable
that it should be so. The army assembled along the
frontier was quite sufficient to deter or drive back irregular
bands of marauders; and that more than these should have
assailed us, no reasonable or reflecting being could have
imagined. The Lahore Government, indeed, by pushing on
its army, drew down on themselves the consequences they
were above all things anxious to- avert, and
placed their country _at once within our grasp—
the people now and for ever at our feet. Should
we permit the Seikhs -for the present to rule over it,
it must be under such circumstances and conditions as to
leave it completely at our mercy whenever it may
suit us summarily to deal with it. We lament the fear-
ful loss of life that has occurred, and hardships that have
been endured, but beyond this our regrets for what has
happened scarcely extend; and we most heartily rejoice
at the unequivocal evidence we possess, that from no
threat—no act of intimidation on our part—no casting of

an eye of covetousness' on the possessions of our neigh-
bours—has the country of the Five Rivers been placed at
our disposal." Looking at the position of affairs altogether,
therefore, we believe that the Governor-General has acted
in accordance with his instructions, and that though the
troops have suffered severely, it was better to act on the de-
fensive than begin a war without just cause.

The debate on the Ministerial proposition for the re-
peal of the-corn-laws has now continued for a fortnight.
There is not a Protectionist who does not admit that
his case is hopeless. -Protection has been tried, con-
demned, sentenced, and delivered up for execution; but,
like Prior's thief, who
"Now fitted the halter, now traversed the cart,
And often took leave, yet seemed loth to depa t "

it would fain delay its inevitable doom by talking
" fustian." The burden of the-Protectionist song is appeal
to the people. The people, as contradistinguished from
the aristocracy and their serfs, have been appealed to by
the League. On the 23d of December, 1845, the
League appealed to the people of England, and said
we want a quarter of a million to be raised within the
next twelve months, in order to enable us to carry on
the agitation for the repeal of the corn-laws ; and with-
in somewhat less than half a quarter of the time the
answer has been upwards of 168,000/. ;
that is to say, in less than four months
the League will have what they asked for
as the supply for twelve months, and we can assure the
Protectionists that if the League choose to draw a bill at
twelve months on the people of England for one million,
tnstead of for a quarter of a million, the bill will be ac-
cepted and honoured. It has always been the character-
istic of " JOHN BULL: to be very chary of his cash—
" Keep your hands out of his breeches pocket,"

says BYRON ; but the League has applied the breeches
pocket test to John Bull, and, so far from grumbling at
them, John, who has at length learned to discriminate
between his friends and his enemies, has manfully
unbuttoned his breeches' pocket, and said, " Gentle-
men, help yourselves." The Anti-Corn-law League,
within less than two months, have raised
upwards of 1653,000/. This is a great fact,
which cannot be gainsayed. The names of the sub-
scribers, with the sums which each has subscribed,
appear in another column. The men who conduct this
movement are earnest, energetic, firm, moral, high
principled men,

—•" Who know their rights
And knowing dare maintain."

Men who rate at their true value the threats of
such blustering incendiaries as the Duke of RICH-
MOND, but who, should any dupe of the Noble Duke
attempt to give a practical illustration of his aphorism,
that " cotton will burn as well as straw," would not be
deterred by any fear of infringing the privileges
of the house of Lords, from including his
Grace of RICHMOND in the same indictment
with his dupe, -and giving in evidence his speech in
the House of Lords as.proof of his malus animus. It is
admitted on all hands that the Ministerial measure will
pass the Commons. It is doubted whether it will pass
the Lords. As strict constitutionalists—as supporters
of the principles of our mixed Government, of which the
aristocratial element is an essential part, we beseech,
we implore the Members of the House of Lords not
to reject this measure—not to stand between the people
and their fond. Let them recollect the Reform Bill.
Three times did they reject that measure, and at length
they were forced to pass- it. They must ultimately
repeal the corn-laws. The measure—the simple measure
of repeal, this mere (not act of justice, but) undoing of
injustice that it is, would now be accepted by the people
as a boon. If the Lords reject it, let them beware.
The division will be analysed, and they may have a Bill
for the total and immediate repeal of the corn-laws
returned to them, accouipani,d by another Bill for the
retuim of their Lordship's own House. No unconstitu-
tional s..heme of abolition—no chimerical scheme of
reform, bUt a simple measure for preventing those from
giving judpnent who have not heard the evidence
in the case. What would their Lordships say to this
Bill abolishing voting by proxy? Many facts might be
given in evidence to show the absurdity and the in-
justice of the present system. For instance, the late
Lord SIDMOUTH voted by proxy in the House three
hours after his death. Lunatic Peers have for several
sessions voted by proxy while they were lunatics.
Nay, even a felon Peer (the case of Earl FERRERS, in
1759, is a case in point) might vote by proxy up to
the hour of his execution, or perchance, as the law
knows no fractional part of a day, up to twelve o'clock
at night of the day on which he was banged in the
morning. There are many other of the Peers' privil-ges
which on investigation will be found to be equally
absurd, and contrary to the dictates of common sense.
Let them, therefore, afford a quiet passage to the law
repeal through their antiquated chamber, and not, by
fruitless resistance, court a struggle, which will disturb
the venerable dust on their floors, and may destroy
many an ancient and time-honoured cobweb.

Despite the interference—the rash and unconstitutional in-
terference—of the Duke of NEwCAsTLE, despite the autho•
ritative protest of the father, despite the voice of deprecation
which issued from the ducal retirement of Clumber—Lord
Lisicouc
presentednight himself upon the hustings of Newark on
Saturday
wouldpr
;amid, according to the show of hands, was
re-elected the
be
thesentative of South Nottinghamshire.
Though we
teleast to desire any family quarrels to
date themselves from the
commerce which are now glorious struggles for freedom of
any
one visiblel in this country—though we
g parties
ase not to aid by one single ex-
pressionswonnearly allied as the two noblbs
ago, we
but rejoice that the
arc as desirous as
coming forward
attention, has
in embroiling
forward
jelvAe\rat ions of
as a tho-
rough above mentioned,
asseverations
Quixotism
manifesto to which, three day
not deterred Lord LINcoLN from
Buclux.:l
rough advocate for the abolition printchiepllnbegso.ld
of the strawberry-leaf aristocrats ;
RICHMOND, and BIAELBonoUGII, and
to imply the impossibility of any greater extravaig'asneemene,l
the part of those haughtiest of hereditary dignitaries. When,chowever, his Grace of NEWCASTLY, fired with a patriotic
trepidation for his rent-roll, has the consummate hardihood to
oppose the expressed prerogatives of Englishmen by die_
tating to a constituency the me l
rits of thi candidate and the
demerits of his opponent, al the previous achievements
of his fellow-autocrats wither into insignificance. Although
a contemptuous laugh might have been first excited by the
half-whimpering, half-frenzied language employed by his
Grace, although a momentary chuckle may have ensued
npoa a first perusal of that most unscholarly and un-
dignified proclamation, our sincerest disgust was excited
by the selfishness which embittered every atijective, the

. •

rancour which burnt in every verb, and the marvellous
effrontery which pervaded every sentence of that impolitic
and ignoble letter. Resolved upon out-doing the former
feats of the ducal phalanx, the Lord of Cluinber char4i
his blunderbuss to the muzzle, at the risk of an explusien
which might materially damage himself. Not content with
the questionable notoriety of tampering, in a secret
manner, with the return of a Parliamentary cham-
pion ; not content with giving his implied patron-
age to a corn-law candidate, by fastening, as it were,
to his canvassing-book a guarantee of his approbation in the
jovial person of his agent—my " Lord Duke " must violate
all decency in characters legible to the multitude. He is
scarcely satisfied with the renown of invisible interference—
he must proclaim his culpable movements with foolscap and
goosequill ! Oratory has asserted the immunities of a landed
oligarchy; literature must be taxed for the same heroic
purpose. A boon to the few must be preserved by
a continuance of an injustice to the many : what
so appropriate for the enforcement of this necessity,
as bad grammar, bad humour, bad taste, and bad policy ?
Were there not undukely systems to bolster up and
perpetuate ?—what so appropriate for this purpose as an
exhibition of avarice and fury equally undukely in its na-
ture ? Wale there not ungenerous measures to retain ?
what so appropriate for this purpose as an effort equally
ungenerous ? Were there not laws most unnatural to preserve ?
—what so appropriate for this purpose as an interposition
equally unnatural ? But an action so diametrically opposed
to the general temperament and sympathies of our countrymen
was impossible to receive their approbation—its failure was
doomed in the very moment of its germination—it was null
and imbecile in the very senectude of its concoctor. Imme-
diately upon its publication we felt assured th,t
Lord Luicoix would derive much benefit from it instead
of any actual detriment ; this conviction has been
confirmed by the proceedings of Saturday around
the hustings of Newark. Far from sympathising,
as some unprincipled or small-seeing individuals had hinted,
in the woes of a contemned parent, we would undertake to
vouch that most of the tenant-farmers present experienced
only a gush of pride at the manly and unselfish conduct of
Lord LINCOLN. It would be frivolous to argue upon the de-
ference owing by his Lordship to a paternal interdict ; that
deference we doubt not for a moment is rife in the bosom of
the Noble • Earl. But upon that interdict it is
preposterous to expect his Lordship to act. Lord
LINCOLN is not surely in his political babyhood ;
he is not surely a consumer of electioneering
rusks or Parliamentary tops-and-bottoms; the legislative
candle-cup is not surely the medium of his nourishment; a
ducal bib is not surely the fitting garment for a full-grown
Member of the House of Commons. Such an interposition
as that of his Lordship's father is as unseemly as it is most
irretrievably ludicrous ; and we conceive that Lord
LINCOLN, by the taciturnity he preserved on the hustings
as to the appearance of that precious document, acted
most judiciously : abstaining by that silence from any al-
lusions to his parent, while, by so doing, he tacitly pro-
claimed his independence_ as the candidate of an enlightened
policy. If there were sufficient time, we would urge the
electors to confirm the noble position thus maintained by
Lord LINCOLN; and by the numerical eloquence of the
polling booths, proclaim to the Duke of NEWCASTLE the
folly of printing squibs at the instigation of any member of
the Peerage, as well as the triumph which must ever attend
just laws and progressive opinions.

We have. received Madrid papers of the 14th and 15th
inst. On the 14th the Senate met, when General SERRANO
read the decree appointing NARVAEZ Commander-in-Chief
of the army, and asked for some explanations as to the duties
of that office. General NARVAEZ wished to speak, but the
President interrupted him, and informed the speaker that no
answer could be given to the question In the absence of Minis-
ters, and the Chamber adjourned. On the 15th the Council
of Ministers assembled, and remained several hours in delibe-
ration. After a long discussioh relative to the question put
by General SERRANO in the Chamber of Peers on the previous
day, it is said that Ministers declared the title of Com-
mander-in-Chief merely honorary. NARVAEZ, however,
will not rest satisfied with a merely honorary title; a contest
will, therefore, immediately take place between him and the
new Ministry, and we should not be-surprised to hear in a
few days of: its diasolution. The appointment has created
much anxiety at Madrid, for a- general belief prevails that
unless NARVAEZ is controlled" by the Ministry, he will at
once assume the powers of a Dictator. ,
On the 14th the Three per Cents. closed at 32'4 at 60
days. The Five per Cents. were not quoted.

The most striking feature in the Paris Papers continues
to be the intelligence from Algiers. Every mail brings
more disheartening news. The Government papers assert
that the accounts have been greatly exaggerated. We,
therefore, can draw no conclusion as to the real state of affairs,
and consider it best to give extracts from the different pa-
pers, that our readers may judge for themselves. The Con-
stitutionnel says:— •
" The appearance of Abd-el-Kader in the province of Algiers within
a few hours' march of the capital is unfortunately confirmed. The
ex-Emir had'been preceded, and his apgroach announced, by his
lieutenants Ben Salem and one of the many Bou Mazes. Both of
these were beaten, and their folloWers dispersed. The Bou Maze
was defeated by the Beni- Ayssis, in the environs of Denys, to
the east of Algiers. But there had been too much haste in
hoping for the end of the agitation which their presence had created.
They had scarcely disappeared, when Abd-el-Kader. having passed
through the defiles of the Atlas, entered the province of Algiers, and
fell suddenly upon the tribes of the Isser, whom he made pay dearly
for their constant fidelity to the French. The plain which this tribe
inhabited was ravaged throughout by the cavalry of the Emir, on the
sth and Gth hist. A small detachment from the Marshal's column,
which crossed the plain a few days after, states that it bore all the
aspect of a desert. The people, driven away, fled to the neighbour-
ing tribes, filling them also with affright. Several of their chiefs
fell into the heads of Abd-el-Kader, and were mercilessly decapi-
tated. The Marshal, following the traces of the Emir, has moved
from the west to the east of Algiers. He was in the environs of
Boghar to the south-west; and he is every moment expected
on the plateaux of Maritza to the east. If the Emir was at
the head of regular troops, this move of M. Bugeaud, would take
him in the rear, and drive him between the sea and the column of
General Gentil, which closes the defiles of the Isser--while General
Yousouf, on the other hand; who hits been sent in pursuit of Abd-el-
Kader, with GOO cavalry, must, it appears, drive his 500 or GOO horse
back nom the forces of the. Marshal or General Gentil. But can
any success be hoped for, even of the best combined tactics, against
an enemy so evanescent? 'Many -military men consider the sally
made by Abd-el-Kader towards the very heart of our colony. and al-
most within sight of the walls of its capital, was an act of the utmost
audacity that may be fatal to him; In fact, he seems to have com- •
pletely involved himself iia a position surrounded by, the` Marshal oil
the south, General Gentil -on the -west, the sea On the north, and
General Yousouf hi close pursuit of him ; so- that he•has nothing left
but to continue on his way- to the east and throw himself into the
province of Censtantina. To any other than himself such a move-
ment would be impossible. The province of Constantine has long
been worked upon by his emissaries. It is much agitated by his ex-
pected arrival."
The Neisager of Saturday Contradictslo a certain extent
these statements :
" Yesterday and to-day reports were circulated in Paris calculated
to excite uneasiness as to Algeria.- We are authorised to contradict
them. The-Government has received no other dispatches from Oran
and Algiers than those which have been inserted in the journals, and,
far from conceiving any alarm for the environs of this last-named
city, there ii every reason to believe, on the contrary, that it was the
appearance of Ben Salem an the Isser, that gave rise to the belief
Mat Abd-el-Kader, deceiving all the columns in pursuit of him, had
approached Fondouk. Only one report has arrived since those which
have been published ; and this gives complete assurance as to the
province
of Constantine, the population of which is represented as
disposed to give a bad reception to the ex-Emir, should he venture
to appear among them."
The Journal des Debats, however, is more cautious, and
does not to any extent confirm the assertions of the Messager.
It in fact rather takes a gloomy view of affairs:—
" The following is what we can gather of Abd-el-Kader's move-
ments, from the confused accounts given in the journals of the
colony. Let it first be remembered, that Ben Salem, the Khalifa of
the Kabyies of the Jurjura, for Abd-el•Kader, made on the sth an
unexpected irruption on our allied tribes on the right bank of the
Isser ; that he was beaten on the 6th by Colonel Blangini ; and
surprised on the 7th in his camp by General Gentil, who had crossed
the Isser, on the news of Boa Salem's attack. Two days after, Abd-
el-Kader, arriving from the desert.by Ilamza, crossed the hisser below
the bridge- of Ben Mini, ten leagues from Fondouk and twenty
leagues from Algiers, but in place of pushing forward on the road
of Fondouk, he descended.the course of the river on the left, and fell
like a thunderbolt on the tribes inhabiting the fine plains of the Isser.
These tribes are exceedingly devoted to us. They submitted in 1841
without making any opposition ; they have always been well-treated;
and, having gained much. money with us, were in the enjoyment of
remarkable prosperity. Abd-el-Kader and Ben Salem have ravaged
them in the most cruel manner, burning the douars and villages, cutting
down the fruit-trees, taking with them all the cattle, and, in addition,
cutting off the heads of the principal chiefs. It is a cause for asto-
nishment, that Abd-el-Kader has thus advanced into the plain of
laser, notwithstanding the recent disaster of Ben Salem. It is not
easy to conceive why General Gentil was not within reach to pro-
, tect tbese_unfortunato tribes. In these circumstances two battalions
of the national guard were called out ; 500 men, undergoing. punish-
ment for military offences, were armed; and, finally, General
Yousouf set out Fondouk with 500 or
.600 horse. The Governor-
General, General itedeau, General Marey, General d'Arbouville,
inanceuvred simultaneously to oppose it, and the Emir, in some
measure, passed in the midst of them, and left the whole force
far behind. General Gentil, whom a
.wise provision had placed
at Oued-Corso, was not there at the moment when the pro-
vision in question was realised, and his advantage over Ben
Salem turned fatally against us and our allies. There was also a re-
serve at Blldah at the commencement of the campaign, but General
Commit had a short time back received orders to quit Blida!' with
it and proceed towards Medeah. Orders have been sent to him to
return in all haste to Blklah. Col. Eynard, who commands at Or-
leansville, has been summoned to the province of Algiers, to Milianah,
whence he_will descend into the plain if necessary. The circle of
Algiers, which was altogether undefended, ought, therefore, to be at
present sufficiently protected to prevent the enemy from penetrating
there. These great perturbations, caused by a leader at the head of
only 600 or SO() horsemen, lead many persons to suppose that
it would answer better to endeavour to defend or com-
mand for the moment only certain regions, the most
important round our positions, reserving to a future moment to
chastise the distant tribes, in plaCe of wearing out men, horses, and
materiel in running after Abd-el-Bader wherever he chooses to lead
us, and where we .follow with difficulty, without any probability of
ever being able to yotne up with him, and bring him to action. The
inland districts well guarded ; two moveable columns on the line of
our forts on the desert; and an expedition on the Maloula in Mo-
rocco, to overturn the political establishment which he endeavours
to found there, is the plan, it is said, which has been proposed fur
this year. No news of Abd-el-Kader had been received at Algiers
on the 12th, since his razzia at the Isser, executed on the 10th at
day-break, but it was said that General Gentil had returned to Oued-
Corso the same evening."

The Presse contains the following remarks on the ruinous
policy pursued in *Algeria:— -

" Algeria has cost us already more than a milliard (40,000,0001.
sterling), and the expense it costs us is only our least objection. The
most serious is that it prevents us from accomplishing many other
objects: It prevents us from reforming the vicious and expensive
Organisation of our army. It prevents us fom allocating 100,000,000 f.
a year to the reduction of taxation, which would add to the receipts
of the Treasury by increasing its produce. It prevents us from
executing public> works which would enrich the country,
and from making improvements in the administration of
affairs, which would give durability to our institutions.
Algeria is manifestly intended to perform an all-important
part in the first conflict that shall disturb the peace of Europe, and
decide thwfuture prosperity and independence of France. It becomes
ne:essary, therefore, that. we should desist from our sterile discus-
fundswha t
moms and oar miserable rivalry, to occupy_yourselves with our African
possessions, and for this purpose we require to be roused by the ac-
counte"Nouttwoift-bssotman dreinvogittintgesaendsiunni:teecresascacryounacts,t oftreelFtrey
accou of some unfortunate disaster, or by a dispatch containing the
c such a course lead us ?"
InchTo
continue firm.
The Throe per Cents, closed on the Paris Bourse
84f. 65e. ; -the Five per Cents„ 1231 on Saturday at
. 40c. ; the Orleans
shares, 1,32.0 f. ; Rouen, 1,0471. 50e. ; Railroad
Great Northern,
Havre, 7401. ; Avignon,- 1 007 f SO
-••-• ; Vlerzon, 210 T, 71733,:i Me' ;
652 f. 50c.; -Boulogne, 5471. 50c. ; Troyes and itlontereau;4.sof, Bordeaux,
253 f. 75c. ;- Dieppe, 477 f. 50c. ; Strasburg, 5551. ; Tours and IsT ‘2, Nantes,
591 f. 25c- Spanish Passives, 6% ; Domestic Debt, 32_
The following are the quotations for other lines :—Lyons and
Avignon ('falabot), 5101, ; Ditto (Lecointe), 505 f.; Ditto (Corn-
pagnie Meridionale), 502 r. 50c. ; _Ditto (definitive), 665 f.; Bordeaux
and Cette (Mackenzie), 503f.50c..; Ditto (Eyelets), 5101. ; Charleroi
502 f
(Kyotten's), 497 f. 50c.; Caen (Delamarre, ,

-Y.=-~.=