The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-31 00:00:00

nit-wins .-'41,11 •

LONDON, TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 1846.

We have to announce another great victory over the
Seikhs, and we confidently hope that there may be no oc-
casion for another. Within seven weeks four great battles
have been fought on the banks of the Sutlej between the
British troops and these lawless invaders, and, though
purchased at a high price, all of them have been gained with
great honour by our gallant troops. In every in-
stance the enemy was driven from his
position by an inferior force, generally not exceeding one -
half of that opposed to it, with the loss of his cannon—his
strong weapon of defence—and vast slaughter. The last
battle, that announced in the telegraphic dispatch, like
the glorious victory gained by Sir HARRY Salmi,
and for which we are glad to see a vote of thanks
is to be proposed in both Houses of Parliament, has
been completely decisive ; and being on a grander
scale, the main forces on both sides being engaged, has
brought affairs to an issue, a result to which the victory at
Aliwal not a little contributed. It was fought at a place
called Sebras, which we do not find in any of the maps, but
which must be near to Hurreeke. The former accounts
stated that the divisions under the Commander-in-Chief
continued at rest on the 28th of January, facing the river from
Ferozepore westward; that the Seikhs were entrenched in
great force in front; their camp was on their own side, and
their batteries on our side of the river, a strong bridge of
boats connecting the position. The British army attacked
these batteries, called the tete de pont of the Seikh forces in
the dispatch, and, after four hours' hard fighting, carried
everything before them, and captured 65 guns—making
altogether the extraordinary number of 218 guns captured
since the British army moved from its encampments, or some-
what more than the half of the artillery possessed by Rust-
JEST SINGH when at the height of his power. We believe
there is no instance on record of work like this performed in
the same time by such a 'small army. Our loss, as
might have been anticipated, was severe ; it could
not be otherwise. The Seikhs had been forti-
fying their position from the 23d of December, or soon
afterwards, up to the 10th of February, they had still
plenty of guns and troops, and seem to have staked their
existence, as a military body, on this great trial of strength,
and being utterly defeated, have, in accordance with
their superstition, as well as for military causes,
given up the contest. We have no details on
this point, for it is merely said that the victory was followed
by an agreement, according to which the Seikhs had engaged
to pay, as an indemnity, in four yearly instalments,
1,500,0001., the payment to be guaranteed by the military oc-
cupation of the country. This, though not officially an-
nounced, is extremely probable. The Seikhs saw that they
could not contend with any hope of success against such valour
and skill, they knew that Sir C. NAPIER WaS on his march to
Mooltan, that reinforcements were pouring in weekly to in-
crease the invading force, and that they must have suc-
cumbed at last under still harder conditions. As to the
Government at Lahore, we believe the arrangement is ex-
actly what they wanted. They were completely at the mercy
of the lawless troops. They had no security for their lives or
property, and would be glad to agree to any terms which could
paralyse this discontented and dangerous body of armed
men. Such a result is the very best that could have been
expected. In possession of Amritsir, Mooltan, Leia, and
possibly also Lahore, the British authorities can wait

patiently till some legitimate Government is formed,
which will give security for the future, or be an.twe..
able for any fresh breach of faith. These victories
may be regarded altogether as the most important
ever gained in India. RUNJEET SINGH, with his warlike
Seikhs, was looked upon with terror by all his neighbours,
and almost believed to be invincible. The British, in a very
short, but active and severe campaign, have thoroughly dis-
pelled these delusions, asserted their supremacy over the
most warlike nation in India, and alike crushed the hopes
of the AfTghans in the west and the Nepaulese and Burmese
in the east.

since writing the above, a more detailed account of the
battle has been received, which will be found in another part
of The Sun. From this we learn that the victory was most
complete, that the loss of the Seikhs was enormous, and
that the British forces had already commenced the
passage of the Sutlej. The GOVERNOR-GENERAL had at
last admitted the chief of the Seikhs to an interview, when
we presume, the conditions mentioned in the telegraphic
dispatch, were proposed and accepted. The official dispatches
will be published to-morrow. It will be seen that Sir HARRY
SMITH also shared in the honour of this decisive victory.

The Marquis of LONDONDERRY obtained last night the
consent of the House of Lords to a return of the ejectments
effected in Ireland during the last five years. It is gratify-
ing to find this important step taken by a Noble Lord who,
although himself the proprietor of large estates in England,
sets the good example of residing some portion of the year
amid his tenantry in Ireland, and providing for their wants,
and attending to their comforts, so far as these ends can be
compassed by personal observation and a humane and
generous mind —an example, too, which he has not
unfrequently urged, in his place in Parliament, the
propriety and necessity for other Irish landlords to
follow, if they would rightly discharge the duties in-
cidental to their social position. The question to be
elucidated by the return adverted to is one wholly uncon-
nected with politics, viz., the relation between the Irish
landlord and tenant; and what are its peculiarities, if any,
that lead to scenes that estrange every feeling of humanity ?
That the system has been carried on for a long time is noto-
rious, and it is to be regretted that so much delay has
been suffered to interpose between the inquiries in-

stituted by Government on this subject and any prac-
tical legislation for obviating in part, and finally eradi-
cating, the possibility,- of such heartrending occurrences.
The report of the Commission, of which Lord DEVON was the
head, seemed to furnish ample materials for facilitating any
endeavour to grapple with the chronic evils that have been,
and are, the fertile sources of the fearful agrarian distuib-
ances by which the daily history of Irel4nd is so shamefully
defaced. The wholesale acts of Mr. and Mrs. GEnanD, in
having driven 270 human souls, like a pestilent herd, from
their land, unsuccoured by ait.t other shelter than the open
canopy of heaven, and scared by the hostile sword
of the military, if they attempted to linger around
the scene of demolition that had razed their
very homesteads from the face of the earth.
appears to be the crowning deed for arousing the indignation
of the country from one end to the oti,er, and to fright Par-
liament itself from its propriety . We remember with what
reproachful zeal many of the Irish landlords commented
upon the bold, yet wholesome warning given to them by the
Isle Mr. DI:CM:110ND, when lie ,hunciated " that propert%
lia its dubs as well as its rights." The sound; ess of thi
propusition came out unscathed from the virulel,t ordeal
through which it had to pass, and every hour we have to
deplore that the precept and its practice are kept so wide
apart. Wherever the supineness of the ruling
power has suffered a continued departure from
the duties that ought to be inseparable from
the enjoyment of the rights it has devolved upon the sub-
ject, the latter is apt to imagine that impunity for Ids mis-
doings is almost as sacred a right as any other to which the
law has given him a title. Thus the Duke of NEWCASTLE
denounced any attempt to interfere with the privilege be had
so long exercised of dealing with his rotten boroughs before
the passing of the Reform Bill, like so many bales of mer-
chandise, exclaiming, in a spirit of full-blown arrogance,
" Have I not a right to do what I will with my
own?" But the Legislature, backed by the country
at large, soon convinced his Grace to the contrary, by
drying up the streams which had been surreptitiously
diverted from the broad channels of the constitution. And,
intact as the rights of property must and ought to be kept
in every civilised country, we are not, we apprehend, much
mistaken, if before long the Irish. proprietary at large should

fled that the Senate will enforce upon them the obSer, tam
of the reciprocal influences of rights and their duties, and that
-hey cannot neglect the latter without shaking the v ery
foundations on which the former are laid. It appears fie en
Lord LONDONDERRY'S statement that many of IN'
unfortunate victims of Mr. and Mrs. GERARD were ready to
pay their rents, and actually tendered the same, but in vain—
not one spark of sympathy or remorse could be kindled.
The mandate had gone forth, and in a moment, as it were,
they were cruelly exiled from the spot of their birth, and
the hearth to which their earliest recollections might in a
thousand ways have endeared them beyond any other
locality they could find. If the population of Ireland be
redundant, and in the absence of manufactures and other
resources, such as are afforded in England, an undtt com-
petition for land has suitervened in Ireland. consequer,t upon
its being regarded as the only tangible means of subsistence,
however poor and precarious, could people lih e Mr.
and Mrs. GERAILD be ignorant that this untoward
state of things had attracted the attention of the
Legislature ; and was it not the dictates of policy,
as well as of philanthropy itself, to have wailed and
seen what the Legislature might have devised belt, TO they
proceeded to scourge the hapless occupants of the it soil ?
And if it were to be said that this would have involved
a sacrifice, from whom have we a right to look for suet .Tacri•
flees, if not from persons of affluence and social distinction?
Surely it was their duty, so far as their individual conduct
was concerned, to have co-operated with the Government,
and by humane and lenient treatment of those who were
justified in looking to them for protection, instead of relentless
dispersion, have led the country to believe they would have
seconded very effort that might be me (1e by Parliament-to bri g
prosperity to Ireland. Acts, however, like that or which
they have bean guilty only serve to thwart the best inten-
tions of public men. In other parts of the country where
wholesale ejectments have taken place, the owner: have
generally sought to soften the severity of their ineasuree by
making some provision for the emigration of their tenantry,
and for their temporary support and maintenance until Such
could be carried into execution. In the case before us,
however, no one act of I rovidence seems to have accovi-
panied the ruthless scheme; all is dark from first to last.
An universal gloom over•preads the entire picture. It is re-
plete with every forbidding feature. The reflections it offers
are sufficiently grave. We can bode no good of a country
charged with offences of this description. Parliament must
interfere with unsparing hand ; and, by efficacious laws, re-
buke such civil enemies of our public welfare as those whose
conduct have elicited these remarks.

We have accounts from Madrid to the 23d inst. The
Tiempo, the only Opposition paper published, contains little
information, and the Heraldo, being sold to NAILVAEZ, is not
to be depended upon. The only intelligence therefore ob-
tained is from private correspondence. According to that, the
French Ambassador, Count BRESSON, had an interview on the
23d with NARVAEZ, which is said to have been satisfactory to
both parties. The report was, that Count BRESSON, by the
orders of his Court, had advised the Dictator to act with
more moderation, and show some regard for the Constitu-
tion, otherwise he could not expect the support of France.
This belief appears to a certain extent to have calmed the
public mind. The capital was tranquil, and the accounts in
the Government paper from the provinces were also favour-
able. M. BUSCHENTAL, who recently arrived from London,
was on the 22d ordered to quit Madrid within forty-eight
hours. The real cause of this measure is unknown.

On the 23d the Three per Cents. closed at 31% for cash,
and 32 3-16 to the 26th of April. The Fives were not quoted
Exchange on London, 37%.

The Paris papers are chiefly occupied with the Polish in-
surrection and the affairs of Spain, but with the exception,
of some remarks in a letter from Madrid, published in the
Journal des Debats, there is nothing to interest the English
reader. The writer states that at an interview with the
French Ambassador, NARVAEZ had assured him that it was
not his intention to violate the Constitution, and that the
measures taken were bt;t of a temporary nature. But this
does not say much. He had adopted these strong and un-
constitutional measures without any legitimate object, and
solely, it is believed, for the purpose of marrying the
QUEEN to a Prince repudiated alike by the Cortes and
the nation. This marriage may please the Court of France,
but it is unfair towards Spain to accomplish it by decrees
which abrogate the Constitution. The Constitution is mere
waste paper if it thus can be suspended at the will of the
Government.

The domestic intelligence in these papers is not important.
Most of them contain long reports of the trial now going on
at Rouen of M. DE BE.ILTVALLON, for killing last year in a
duel M. DUGARRIER, editor of the Presse. The trial had
already la.ted two days, and was not expected to close till
late on Monday. The Prince DE JOINVILLE reached Nautes
on the 26th, on a nautical tour of inspection previous to his
departure from Toulon to take the command of the experi.
mental fleet. The fleet, it is understood, will not sail till about
the end of April, and will consist of the Souvqrain, of 120
guns, in which the Prince will hoist his flag; the Jem-
inapes, 100; the Inflexible, J 0; the Jupiter, 86; the Nep-
tune, 86 ; the Alger, 82 ; the Marengo, 82 ; and the Triton,
82; and several war-steamers.
A letter from Rome, of the 17th, states that a riot had
taken place at Trasteverino, in consequence of a collision
between the Papal troops and the people. Several persons
were killed and wounded on both sides.

In the Passage of the Opera, on Sunday, the Three per
Cents. were done at 83f. 90e.

The following are the latest quotations of shares at Lyons :
LTONS, 'MARCH 27.—Marseilles and Avignon, 965 f. ; Paris and
Orleans, 1,300 f. ; Rouen, 1,046 f. 25c. ; Vierzon, 710 f.
BISINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT TIM
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, MARCH 30.

Boulogne and Amiens, 11/ --Bordeaux, Todionse, and Cetta
(Espelota), 2 —Dutch Rhenish, s%—East Indian, %—Great North-
ern Si France Constituted, 1 -Great Western Bengal, —Great
Western Canada, 3%—ltalian and Austrian, —Namur and Liege,
Iy. —Orleans and Bordeaux, 11%--Paris and Rouen, 40 Paris
and Strasbourg (Constituted), 6—Sombre and Meuse, VA —Tours and
Nantes Constituted, 7.

INDIA.

DEFEAT OF THE SEIKHS,

WITH

IMMENSE LOSS.

AND

TERMINATION OF
THE WAR.

(From the Morning Post)
TELEGRAPHIC DISPATCHES.

MARSEILLES, MARCH 29, 184 G.

On the 10th of February, the English army, com-
manded by Sir Hugh Gough and by the Governor-
General, attacked the Seikhs at Sebras (the Nte de
pont of the Seikh forces on this side of the Sutlej),
and carried their position after four hours' hard fighting.
The Seikhs lost 12,000 men and 65 pieces of artil-
lery. The English had 300 men killed, 13 of whom
were officers, and 2,500 wounded, of whom 101 wore
officers.

tier Majesty's 53d and 62d suffered enormously.
General Dick and Brigadier Taylor are among the
dead.

This victory was followed, it is said, by an agree-
ment, according to which the Seikhs have engaged to
pay, in four yearly instalments, to the Company for
the expenses of the war, one millions and a half of
pounds sterling, the payment to be guaranteed by the
►oilitary occupation of their country.