The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-26 00:00:00

Ma;

LONDON, THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1846.

The Lords did not sit yesterday.
The Commons met at twelve.

Several Railway Biils were read a second time without
opposition.
On the motion that the Edinburgh and Glasgow and Scot-
tish Central Junction Railway Bill be read a second time,
Mr. F. MAtmx moved that it be read a second time that
day six months.
After a lengthened discussion, the motion for the second
reading was carried by a majority of six; the numbers being
40 in favour of the motion, and 36 against it.
Mr. F. MAuLx then moved the order of the day for going
into Committee on the Turnpike Roads (Scotland) Bill
Sir J. lIVTAGGART opposed the motion. The Mouse was
subsequently addressed by Mr. Foaxxs, Mr. P. M. STEWA RT.
Mr. B. Darnsox, Mr. HODGSON, Mr. F. MACKENZIE, and Mr,
H. DRUMMOND.

After which a division took place, when there appeared—
For the motion,3o ; against it 18; !majority for the motion, 12.

The House then resolved itself into a Committee on the
Bill, and several of the clauses were carried by very narrow
majorities. Ultimately,

Mr. Fox Ms ULE intimated that it was not his intention
to proceed further with the Bill, and the House resumed.
Mr. F. MACKENZIE gave notice that on Friday he should
move for a Select Committee to inquire into the mode of
granting licenses to public houses in Scotland.
The House adjourned at Half-past Four o'clock.

The Indian mail, put on board the steamer Virago, at
Alexandria, on the 9th inst., we regret to state has not
yet arrived, and no satisfactory accounts of that vessel
had reached Marseilles by the latest intelligence from
that quarter. Much anxiety, therefore, prevails for the
safety of the passengers and crew, but strong hopes
are entertained that the steamer sent out by the Gover-
nor of Malta to the relief of the Virago, would reach
her in time. The news expected by the mail has, how-
ever, fortunately been anticipated by the Bombay Times,
published on the 15th of February, which contains a
general order by the Governor-General of India, announc-
ing the important victory gained by the British forces
over the Seikhs at Aliwal, on the 28th January, together
with the dispatch of Sir H. SMITH, describing the battle,
its results, and the judicious arrangements made for
rendering it decisive, and decisive it has been to the
fullest expectation. One dispatch, however, is still want-
ing, namely, that relative to the attack made by the
Seikhs on the British troops while Sir HARRY SMITH
was forming a junction with Colonel GODBY ; but from
all accounts the loss was very small, and the General
acted with great prudence in avoiding a general engage-
ment before the proper opportunity had arrived. Indeed,
throughout the whole of the military proceedings, from
the 21st to the 28th, be appears to have acted with con-
summate skill as a commander. He did not rush into
battle without preparation or foresight; he submit. ed
to the trifling loss of some baggage, but kept the
main object in view—the certain and utter defeat
of the troops opposed to him. The result, when
all the circumstances became known, fully justified this
prudent conduct, for he had opposed to him the very
beat troops in the Seikh army—namely, those which
had been so thoroughly drilled and disciplined under
the immediate eye of General AvITABILE, and which
were called the " Avitabiles," in honour of this Neapoli-
tan officer. The General deserves praise, also, for the wise
and humane provision made for the relief of the wounded.
Owing, says he, to the judicious arrangements of Dr. MUR-
RAY, field•surgeon, every wounded officer and soldier was
placed under cover, and provided for soon after dark,
and on the 29th, the day after the battle, the whole of
the wounded were moved to Loodianah, for the sake of
accommodation and comforts which could not be given
them in the field. What will strike:the reader moat,
next to this humane conduct, is the admirable order in
which the British force was arrayed. They were all
properly organised and brigaded on the morning of the
25th, so as to render them manageable in action, and
they started for the contest alike prepared to march
or fight the enemy at a minute's notice. " The ad-
vance," says the General, " was steady, my troops well
in hand, and if the enemy had anticipated me on tha
Jugraon road, I could have fallen upon his centre with
advantage." Fortunately, for good generals are also
fortunate if we are to believe the Romans, both the
ground and the weather were most favourable for his
purpose. The scene just previous to the onset is well
drawn, and the orderly manner in which the advance
was made exhibits in the most striking manner the con-
fidence of the troops under his command. "As I
neared the enemy, the ground became most favourable
for the troops to manoeuvre, being open and hard grass
land. I ordered the cavalry to take ground to the right
and left by brigades, thus displaying the heads of the in-
fantry columns, and as they reached the hard ground I
directed them to deploy into line. Brigadier GODBY'S
brigade was in direct echellon to the rear of the right, the
Shekawattee Infantry in like manner to the rear of my left,
the cavalry in direct echellon on, and well to the rear
of both flanks of the infantry. The artillery massed on
the right, and centre, and left. After deployment I ob-
seried the enemy's left to outflank me, I therefore broke
into open columns and took ground to my right ; when
I had gained sufficient ground, the troops wheeled into
line ; there was no dust, the sun shone brightly. The
manoeuvres were performed with the celerity and pre-
cision of the most correct field day. The glistening of
the bayonets and swords of this order of battle was most
imposing, and the line advanced. Scarcely had it moved
forward 150 yards when at ten o'clock the enemy opened
a fierce cannonade from his whole line." And to the
honour of the native troops, we ought not to omit
to state, that, in almost every instance, they rivalled
the. European regiments, and had, with the assistance
only of one regiment, the glory of defeating the " A vita-
biles." Upon the left, Brigadier WILSON, with her
MAJESTY'S 53d and 30th Native Infantry, equalled in
celerity and regularity their comrades on the right,
and this brigade was apposed to the " Aieen" troops,
called Avitabiles, when the battle was fiercely
raging ; and, in another attack, a native corps
nobly obeyed orders, rushed among the Avitabile
trobps, drove them under a bank, and thus exposed
thein to the deadly fire of twelve guns within 300 yards.
But it is needless to give more details. The battle was
in every part favourable to the British forces, and that
owing as much to the prudence and skill of the General
as to the marked superiority of the troops under his
command. Sir HARRY SMITH has well merited the
thanks of Parliament and other more substantial honours
for one of Cie most decided victories on record, and
gained, too, with comparatively small loss of life.
Since the above was in type, we have learned with
great satisfaction the safe arrival of the India mail and
the Virago steamer at Marseilles.

Every heart capable of sympathising in a reverence
for liberty—that handmaid of civilisation !—but a few
weeks since was stirred to its innermost depths at the
news that Poland had once more risen to assert its in.
dependence ; that Cracow was taken, and that the troops
of its foreign government were driven back in conster-
nation. Englishmen, generally, could not but sympa-
thise in this movement ; cognisant of their own felicity
in possessing a political constitution essentially free,
they could not but commiserate the des-
tiny of a great nation, and of an illus-
trious race, subjected to ,the domination of three
separate powers of a most despotic character. It is
indeed from the inhabitants of Great Britain that the
Poles have experienced the most substantial and ser-
viceable signs of esteem ; during the time of their ap-
parent reconciliation to the authority of their triple-
rulers, English oratory, English poetry, and English
money have been regularly, if not lavishly, devoted to
the solace of the refugees from Poland. Hence it was
that on the arrival of the intelligence from Gallicia a
yas t majority of the people of this country participated
in the feeling of patriotism by which the insurgents were
actuated ; and among that majority we confess
that we ourselves felt earnestly. Our sympathy how-
ever was imbued rather with sadness than with hope,
we could not but perceive the unfortunate abruptness of
the outbreak. The scheme was so crude, there was such
a manifest lack of preparation, that we saw only in that
premature ebullition a certainty of greater hardships
than had hitherto been inflicted upon that land of
martyrs. We appreciated the glorious sentiments in
which that revolution had originated, but we mourned
the calamitous consequences which must ensue. It would
d
indeed be cruelty to assert that the present is not
right time for the emancipation of Poland. Abstract
isedly,
it is the right time ; but practically speaking, it not.
Without the moat perfect unanimity on their own part
he
ill action, As well As in thought, anci without either t
t.,

virtual or actual co-operation of other nations, the re-
storation of freedom to the Poles is totally chimerical.
It is an impossibility. The seeds of regeneration must
be sown, they must be tended and nourished, and com-
mence of themselves a secret germination before they
can burst from the soil and flourish. A trite philosopher
has said " Rome was not built in a day." On
the same principle, if the population of Poland
aspire to better things, their plans must be
gradual and systematic. Otherwise, the hour of their
emancipation will not merely be deferred, but more in-
tolerable miseries will acrue from the failure of each
insurrection. On these accounts, and on these accounts
alone, we have deeply mourned the recent struggles in
Crallicia ; we consider the instigators of the outbreak as
unwise and incompetent in the last degree. They pos-
sessed enthusiasm and patriotism, but they wanted pru-
dence and tact. Nevertheless, though present suffering may
result from these proceedings, we are sanguine that their
ultimate effect will prove beneficial. A new victory for
Austria, Russia, and Prussia, will only serve to enhance
the commiseration of Europe and America towards
Poland; the effort alone of her people will revive—it has
already revived, and will continue to do so—the ano-
malous position of a territory situated in the centre of
the civilised world being a prey to the avarice of three
adjacent states, her constitution dismembered, her cities
the spoliation of invaders. A sense of this anomaly, a
persuasion of its injustice, will never die away among
the nations of the earth, until the error is rectified, until
Poland is restored to her original place in the
chart of Europe. As among the first indications of this
consequence of the late doings at Cracow, we hail with
real satisfaction a meeting of the friends of Poland, held
yesterday evening in the Crown and Anchor Tavern, a
report of which meeting a great press of matter unfor-
tunately obliges us to postpone. That two thousand
persons were present, that a working man filled the
chair, and that all the speeches were characterised by a
fierce hatred of oppression and a cordial sympathy
with the Polish insurgents, will be sufficient to
show that the assembly was precisely what it should
have been, especially as being the representative of the
sentiments entertained in this vast metropolis. Occa-
sionally, perhaps, the holiness of the cause, for the advo-
cacy of which the parties present had been convened, was
tarnished by language too virulent and sweeping ; a
blemish in the speakers, which we the more particularly
regret, as it was derogatory to the dignity of their
theme. For example, the Chairman was rather injudi-
cious, if not actually blind to propriety, in declaring
that the aristocracy of England, en masse, sym-
pathised in no manner with the grievances of Po-
land : it was a wholesale condemnation, the inaccu-
racy of which there are many living witnesses
to prove. The vituperation, in like manner, uttered by
Mr. FEIRGUS O'CONNOR upon the newspaper press of
Great Britain for its " baseness, servility, truckling, cor-
ruption, and perfidy," was much too comprehensive and
violent to forward the cause of liberality in any one
particular. But enough of this demonstration in favour
of Poland ; it has afforded us much satisfaction, as we
confidently regard it merely in the light of a prelimi-
nary movement. The civil rights of many millions of
our fellow-men are too holy, and are too intimately
blended by ass cciation with our own, to become
a matter of indifference or neglect. Poland, in
fact, demands the sympathy of every European race in
her present hour of tribulation, and the voice that issues
this mandate is the solemn voice of history. That
voice tells us, that the gratitude, the succour, the
hearts, and the hands of Europe, belong by right to Po-
land, whenever by her distresses she requires assistance.
Never should that glorious achievement of the Polish
troops, by which this right has been entailed upon
their posterity, be forgotten or disregarded ; nevershould
that memorable day be lost sight of; when, in 1683, the
auxiliary forces of Poland, under their monarch JoEN
SOBIESKI (amounting, with a few German regiments, to
merely 70,000 men), routed an army of 200,000 Turks upon
the plains of Vienna, and by so doing preserved Austria
and the rest of Europe from becoming the dominion of
barbarians and infidels. And this victory, be it
recollected, was attributable exclusively to the consum-
mate tact of the Polish Sovereign and the dauntless
bearing of his troops ; a fact the more re-
markable from the simultaneous • pusillanimity
of the Austrian Emperor. Within five days
Vienna would have been compelled to capitulate,
when the continent would have been wholly exposed to
the depredations of a lawless body of conquerors: from
this calamity were Austria and her sister kingdoms
rescued by the genius of SOBIESKI and the valour of his
soldiers. Have not the Poles therefore a claim—a won-
derful and deathless claim—upon the sympathy
and succour of every European empire ? And
has not ungrateful Austria a dire and unpa-
ralleled crime to answer for ? Had NAPOLEON
but accomplished his views upon the Autocrat, Russia
would have been driven into a compromise, Austria and
Prussia would have been compelled to concede, and
Poland would have been again numbered among the
nations of the earth. An issue most emphatically
diverse prevented the accomplishment of this grand
design, and Poland remains in servitude. The day of
retribution must, however, come at last. Patriotism
must predominate over tyranny.

We have received Madrid journals of the 18th, but
their principal contents have been anticipated by the
telegraphic dispatches. The Chamber of Deputies met
on that day for the last time, according to all appear-
ances, when Senor NOCEDIL, one of the Secretaries,
rose and said :—" The President has directed me to in-
form the assembly, as his ill state of health will not
allow him to address it, that at a late hour in the
night he received a communication from the President
of the Council of the Ministers, signifying that the Con-
gress should meet to hear the organisation of the Cabi
net and other important communications." The names
of the new Ministers were then announced, and after
that the following royal decree was read
" In virtue of the prerogative conferred upon me by
Article 26 of the Constitution, and by the advice of tay
Council of Ministers, I have decreed and do decree as fol-
lows :—The sittings of the Cortes of the present Legislature
are prorogued."
M. NOCEDAL, then, in the name of the President,
declared that the sitting was closed. The deputies
then retired. The Gazette, of the same date, publishes
a royal degree superseding General CONCHA in the ge-
neral command of the Basque provinces, by General
URBISTONDO, formerly an officer in the Carlist army.
General CORTES, one of the chiefs of the War depart-
ment, had resigned, and ARETA, the political Chief of
Madrid, had been dismissed, and replaced by General
BILBOA. All the troops in garrison in Madrid had re-
ceived orders to be night and day under arms, and
ready to march out at a moment's notice, in case of any
attempt at disturbance. We have given, in another part
of The Sun, the manifesto issued by the new Cabinet,
and it is quite in keeping with the character of the man
who has assumed the dictatorship of Spain. The Funds
had risen nearly three per cent. On the 18th the Three
per Cents. closed at 31 for cash, and 311 at thirty days ;
the Five per Cents. at 22i at thirty days ; the shares of
the Bank of San Fernando, 255 ; of Isabel, 168.

With the exception of an article on the affairs of Spain,
in the Journal des Debats, the Paris papers contain little
news of importance. That journal and the Illessager
appear to be the only papers that had received detailed
accounts of the suspension of the Cortes, and the de-
struction of the freedom of the press, and the manifesto
of the new Government; establishing arbitrary power.
The great press of other important matter prevents us
from giving the article at length, and we therefore con-
fine ourselves to a brief extract, which shows that this..
Government paper declares strongly against this new
system of despotism. We only hope the Court of France
and the GUIZOT Ministry will evince a similar spirit:—
" The new Ministry formed under the auspices of General
Narvaez has inaugurated its accession to power by two acts
of the greatest importance, and which show in what a dis-
astrous path it wishes to lead the country and the young
Queen. By a decree of March 17, the Ministry has ordered
the indefinite prorogation of the Cortes. This measure will
be followed, no person can doubt, by the dissolution of the
Congress, which, composed almost entirely of members of
the Moderado party, has given so many pledges of prudence
and devotedness to the throne and the constitution. This
suspension of the Cortes is so much the more inexplicable
that it has been pronounced before the vote of the budget
for the present year, and before the present Cabinet has ob-
tained a vote of confidence to collect taxes and contribu-
tions. The second decree of the new Ministry has an awk-
o ard analogy with the ordinances of July, 1830. It pro-
nounces in reality the suspension of the liberty of the press.
The new Ministry has, in consequence, been looked on with
a general sentiment of uneasiness. and even terror. Madrid,
on the evening of the 19th, was tranquil, and order had not
been troubled, but there reigned a great agitation in the
public mind. The measures which the Government have
adopted betray its own disquietudes ; the garrison remains
day and night under arms, and several generals and
colonels have been already replaced or dismissed. The situa-
tion is grave for Spain. The Ministry is placed at the head
of an ultra and turbulent minority of 40 members, all per-
sonal friends of General Narvaez, or declared enemies of the
constitutional Government. Its first acts have been a fla-
grant violation of the constitution, and one may say an insult
to the convictions and good sense of the country. There is
no possible safety for Spain but in the maintenance of the
constitution, and with the concurrence of the whole Moderado
party, which for four years has shown so much devotedness
to the throne, and so much attachment to the constitutional
institutions. We hope that this party, so powerful by its
number and by its position in the state, will know how, under
placeopAß actualres circumstances,
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d and firm in its prin-
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just been preceded by the return of Marshal &MEAUX),

whom they visited immediately after landing. A viclent
storm had been raging on the coast, and in some parts
of the interior of Algeria, for two days.
A telegraphic dispatch from Alilianah announee.d on
the 17th that General Josor had fallen suddenly (i
ABD-EL-KADER'S camp, not far from Boussada. The
ex-Emir had hardly time to escape with a few regular
troops. The details are wanting.

The Sie.cle states, that the son of the celebrated
TuoaLts MooRE, who was serving in the French Fo-
reign Legion in Africa, died lately in that country, to
the universal regret of his regiment.
Mme. DE SALVANDY, mother of the Minister of Public
instruction, died un Sunday, at Paris, after a long and
painful illness.

The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bourse on Tuesday at
84f. 25e,.; the Five per Cents., 120 f. 60c. ; the Orleans Railroad
shares, 1,315 f. ; Rouen, 1,057 f 50c. ; Havre, 765 f. ; Great Northern,
785 f. ; Avignon, 975 f. ; Yiezron, 715 f. ; Bordeaux, 683 f. 75c. ;
Boulogne, 525 f. ; Basle, 24 If. 25c. ; Fampoax, 465 f. ; Dieppe, 476 f. ;
Paris and Strasbunr, 5.12 f. 50c. ; Tours and Nantes, 572 f. 50c.; Paris
and Lyons, definitive, IGlf. ; Spanish Three per Cents., 37% ; Spanish
Passives, 51/2.