The Sun.
London, England, 1846-05-22 00:00:00

Rianiart

LONDON, FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1846.

The SPEAKER took the Chair at four o'clock.

On the question of the second reading of the Metropolitan
Sewage Manure Company's Bill some discussion took place,
which ended in the debate being adjourned till this day.

Mr. SHAW gave notice, that a.; soon as Group 11 had
terminated 44 labours and given in its Anal report to the

House, he should move that Mr. SMITH O'BRIEN should be
discharged from custody.

Sir R. PEEL in answer to a question from Mr. MONCKTON
MILNES, said that upon its being stated to her Majesty's
Ministers that IBRAHIM PAcHA. was anxious to visit this
country, it was intimated to the proper authorities that if
his Highness came to England, every attention would be
raid by the Government to his comfort.
Mr. J. COLLETT, in answer to a question from Mr. CRAVEN
BERK ELY, said that he had forwarded to the Home Secretary
the affidavits with respect to the accusation against Sir C.
TAYLOR, and he trusted that he would cause the requisite
inquiry to be made.
Sir JAMES GRAHAM said that after reading the affiJavits,
h 3 was confirmed in the opinion he first entertained, that
they could not be made the ground-work of a judicial inquiry.
If there was any truth in the statement, the proper course
would be a criminal proceeding against Sir C. Taylor.
Mr. C. Butr.En postponed his motion with respect to the
tate of New Zea and to a future day.
The SrEAKELP.2alleci the attention of the House to certain
letters that had passed between Mr. W. SMITH O'BRIEN and
Mr. JOHN HENRY LEY, the clerk of the House, which were
ordered to be taken into consideration to-morrow.
ViSCOUIIt EBRINGTON then proceeded with the motion of
which he had given notice, with respect to the re-appoint-
ment of the Real Property Commissioners, in the course of
which an HON. MEMBER moved, that the House be counted'
and there not being forty Members present the House ad-
journed till to-morrow.

The settlement of the Punjaub has more the appearance
of a dramatic performance than a reality. Towards the end
of autumn last year the Governor-General of India left Cal-
cutta, and proceeded by slow marches towards the banks of
the Sutlej, rather with a view to inspect the different, mili-
tary stations formed in that quarter, and to ascertain in per-
son the state of Lahore, than to act either on the offensive
or defensive. Neither of these alternatives seemed at all
to influence his operations; his heavy artillery was allowed
to remain in the interior, the forces that could be assembled
in a short time were fit only to repel a sudden and isolated in •
vasion from a portion of the lawless Seikh army ; he had neither
battering guns, nor a sufficient body of cavalry, not even in-
fantry, to fight eighty thousand fierce and well-disciplined
soldiers, to: invade the Punjaub, or besiege Umritser and
Lahore. Nothing was leas expected than a great battle, yet
when he arrived at Umballah he found the scene totally
changed, and before he could reach Ferozepore the small
body of troops in that station were completely cut off from the
main body, and be and his men, who bad hurried to the spot,
had time neither for food or rest—they were en-
gaged in one of the most bloody and hazardous con-
tests of modern times. Only two battles more
finished the work, and thus the Punjaub was conquered
in the short space of two months. The winding up of the
affair too has all the semblance of dramatic effect. Corps
after corps of the hitherto unmanageable Seikhs surrendered
their guns to the British, quietly dispersed without the
slightest attempt at resistance, the authorities of Lahore
and a mountain chief, more powerful than they, came and im-
plored the clemency and forgiveness of the Governor• General,
or offered him hearty support, the capital was delivered up to
British troops, the kingdom of the Old Lion of the Punjaub
was rent in twain, and English dominion was established
in less than ten weeks over the extensive district of the
Five Rivers. Such fierce and bloody battles, such a sudden
conquest and peaceful settlement, have rarely occurred in
modern times, and can be compared only to those rapid
movements of BUONAPARTE in his first Italian campaign,
which, to the astonishment of other nations as well as the
French, appeared miraculous for their decision and the hn-
portance of their results. The latest accounts from Lahore
state that the work of peace is still going on with fai r
prospects of success, that the British troops, with the ex-
ception of the small army of occupation, were quietly retir-
ing from the country, and that the native inhabitants, so
far from viewing with jealousy or hatred their new allies
and new masters, were highly grateful for Bri-

tish protection. It is probable that the people
generally will continue quiet under the new
system. They have, in fact, the same reasons
as the people of Sinde, whose conduct has falsified all the
malignant prognostications of the Indian press—they will,
at least those under British dominion, be allowed to trade
and carry on their usual avocations with security, they will
have no reason to fear the plundering inroads of the Seikh
soldiery, or the extortions of despotic Sirdars, and what
holds out a splendid and peaceful prospect for those between
the Sutlej and the Beas, and furnishes a vast scope for
British trade and commerce, the newly 'acquired country is
fertile in the extreme, admirably adapted for the pro-
duction of cotton and sugar, and many other articles in
request in the United Kingdom. Nor is this rich spot
isolated or beyond the reach of British enterprise,
though it is a thousand miles from Calcutta, and a still
greater distance—perhaps fifteen hundred miles—from Bom-
bay. The conquest of Sinde, for which Lord ELLENBOROIGH
and Sir CHARLES NAPIER were calumniated by the ignorant
and the bigoted of this country, by so many civilians in

India, and by the whole of the servile India newspapers,
has opened up a short and easy course to this fertile terri•
tory. We have already the entire command of the
Indus; we have bargained with the rulers of Lahore
by the late treaty for undivided control over the
Sutlej to its junction with the main stream, and

thus a free intercourse is established by means of

steam-boats and other river craft between Kurrachee and
the vast countries washed by the Indus and its tributary
branches. It is said, and the circumstance is entitled to
credit, that GHOOLAB Stscx, not satisfied with his new title
and a large kingdom, aims at the sovereignty of the whole.
We should regard the accomplishment of his wishes as no
loss to England, because there is no hope whatever of good
government under the RANEE and her young son. They are
entirely under the influence of her favourite paramour,
a man of very ordinary abilities and totally with-
out influence over either the chiefs or the people. This king-
dom cannot last long. By the end of the present year the
British troops will leave Lahore, and,
athen, if not before, cir-
cumstances may arise which, with view to preserve order
and peace, may render it advisable to give GHOOLAB SINGH
command over the whole Punjaub. He has as much right
to it as RUNJEET SINGH, and the great object of the Indian
Government should be to establish a power in that quarter,
not only able to repel any inroads of the Affgbans, but to
form an outpost to check invasion from any of the
western states. The British power alone restrains

AKBAR KILLN and his desperate followers, and when

they are removed, the present Government of
Lahore will be found totally incapable to repel an attack
upon Peshawur. GirooLAß Snimr, with the addition of a few
British troops to his hardy and brave. mountaineers, would
be found the only useful ally. But a very short time will be
sufficient to test the new scheme, and before the end of the
year it is extremely probable that a new arrangement must
be formed.

Incidentally a very important principle was broached on
Wednesday by Mr. P. SCROPE, and one which present circum.
stances tend to enforce rather remarkably; we mean the one
involving the imposition of a temporary land-tax during
periods of scarcity and destitution both tax and scarcity
being, as a matter of course, relatively localized. Upon the
establishment of this principle as judicious, rests the revival
of a system which was acted upon in 1783, and by which con-
temporary distress might receive the succour then accorded to
ancestral privations. The manner in which this question
was introduced by the Honourable Member for Birmingham
was pertinent and forcible, though in the absence of ail offi-
cial guarantees upon the circumstances adduced, the Home
Secretary, without doubt, acted with genuine ministerial
caution in procrastinating the decision of Government. It
would be the very acme of insane innovation to expect a
Cabinet to propound measures of such an individual appli-
cation upon the first hint of their advisability, though, at the
same time, it would be the very acme of stubbornness in a
Ministry to refuse concession to an emergency, when the
necessity of some active interference was ostensible beyond
denial. The position of the details of the present emer-
gency lies precisely between these two extremes: there are
instances of the most callous apathy on the part of landlords
towards their destitute tenantry—this no one will be fool-
hardy enough to contradict—nevertheless these instances are
cause for an investigation, scarcely attested with sufficient unanimity to admit of an
instant interposition of the Legislature. Still, there is ample
atiott, and Upon that investigation
e evidencetim is neither
refusal of the proposition ,
would rest the acceptance or
for a levy of the nature mentioned.
meagre or overwhelming—it lies betwaen
and though the recommendation of HonAca eAweo points;
applica-
ble to poetry, it is scarcely of the hue of wisdom toPl
in medics res upon a contested political renovation. Thee
disease must be fully and thoroughly comprehended in all its
ramifications and intensity before a very stringent remedy
like the one recommended by Mr. PouLErr SCEOPE can be
administered with any safety. Now, as to the existence of
scarcity in Ireland during several months past, no mortal inge-
nuity could devise any arguments showing the matter to be con-
trariwise ; any endeavour in this direction would be no more
rational attempt than one to testify the verisimilitude of
black and white. Further proefa are utterly superfluous, but
supposing such to be requisite, the facts adduced by the
Member for Birmingham would of themselves be most
horribly conclusive. They hinge, moreover, so in-
timately upon the principle. of those compulsory
levies of alms, that a succinct reference to them
cannot but be advantageous. According to the circum-
stantial evidence of Mr. ScnorE, the inhabitants of Mallow,
county of Cork, numbering in the aggregate nearly 12,000
souls, are reduced to such a dire condition that 6,000 of
them, literally one entire moiety, are plunged into the most
helpless destitution. One-half of the population of a town
without any means whatever of obtaining sustenance !
Surely the scarcity cry cannot revive any recollection of the
parturient mantes, nor can the occurrence by which that cry
has been enforced call to mind the sequel of that jewel of
Latinity, nascitur ridicules mus—at least as far as any resem-
blance is traceable between the two events. What, however,
are the efforts made by the wealthy estate proprietors for the
alleviation of the pangs of these six thousand help-
less persons, looking up to them, as the latter naturally do,
for those crumbs of charity by which their hunger might
be satisfied, without diminishing, to any appreciable de-
gree, the luxuries of the banquetings of the donors ?
Why it actually appears that a paltry sum of 5001. has been
alone collected throughout the opulent district of Mallow;
nor is the insignificance of the whole amount the only damn-
ing feature of the case. A still more miserable sign of the las-
' SU* int 9 Rhitih 019 philll444oPY of VIM hu

degenerated is visible is the poverty of their individual sub.
scriptions, six pounds and seven pounds having, according
to the assertion of Mr. Scaorn, been tendered and accepted
as adequate contributions from gentlemen drawing their
10.0001. and 12,0001. per annum from Irish land end Irish
labour. Lapped in a superfluity of fortune, these
people persuade themselves that a cheque for
seven pounds will balance their account at in-
tervals with their starving neighbours, forgetting altogether
that celestial and terrestrial eyes are vigilant. Their crumbs
of largess have fallen, but they are microscopic, and in their
very minuteness involve an awful responsibility. If there be
net sufficient evidence, however, of the prevalence of this
apathy to human sufferings amongst those whose
bounden duty it is to offer assistance, there in,
nevertheless, quite enough to show that a canker is
spreading in that section of the social system, and enough
also to authorise an immediate and rigid inquiry on the part
of Government. That movement in behalf of our impotent
countrymen we shall anticipate, and we shall look to Sir
DENHAM NORREYS for further particulars as to the position
of the borough of Mallow, of which he is the representative.

There is no part of the state machine with which the com-
forts, the independence, the liberties of the people at large
are so closely and intimately connected, as with the police
department of the country. Much authority is necessarily
entrusted to their hands, and the greatest difficulty has ever
been found in establishing a check sufficient to restrain the
abuse of that power, to keep its exercise within such bour d,,
that while it may be sufficient, on the one hand, for the
preservation of the public peace, it may not, on the other'
be found unduly to press on, or interfere with, the full enjoy-
ment of the public rights and liberties. Wherever there is
not a sufficient controlling power to.. prevent the arbitrary,
unjust, or unreasonable exercise of that authority, the natural
result most undoubtedly will follow. The man, perhaps of
low origin, of deficient education—

" Clad in a little brief authority,"

will become vain and arrogant, will demand a slavish sub-
serviency, a profound respect, from those whom he can at his
mere will and pleasure subject to much annoyance, to
great personal inconvenience. He will, in his own small
way, become the patron, the supporter of those who con-
descend to curry favour, to flatter and fawn on
him, and the unrelenting persecutor and oppressor
of those who have sufficient manliness or inde-
,,,,,,lence to scorn his assumptions, and to treat him with the
.nntempt be merits. He will let slip no opportunity of ex-
tending his protection to the former, of wreaking his
vengeance on the latter, until the petty and vexatious
tyranny becomes almost insupportable.
In our own country, although the strictest discipline is
established, and it is well known that any improper conduct,
any abuse of power on the part. of the police will most un-
doubtedly be punished with the utmos'i, severity, and that
the offender will immediately be removed from the force
for which he has proved himself to be unfit, yet
numerous and Ns-ell-founded complaints are of almost

daily occurrence. The Commissioners of Police, who have
the appointment in their own hands, summarily dismiss for
any breach of their regulations. The Magistrates, who have
nothing to say to their appointment, visit with increased
severity any illegal or unwarrantable act, justly conceiving
that its magnitude is greatly increased by the fact of its
having been committed by one who was appointed as the
conservator of the public peace, and who must from his
position be well aware of its impropriety. The courts
of justice are open for the redress of any wrongs
which may have bean inflicted by them ; and
should there, unfortunately, be no adequate legal remedy
able and fearless men may be found in both branches of
our Legislature who will not hesitate to denounce
the wrong, and to call for the enactment of
such measures of precaution as will be sufficient
to prevent the possibility of the recurrence of a similar
offence or injury. Thus, there are many and independent
means for the control and restraint of the constabulary.
In Guernsey, the Royal Court assumes to itself the entire
control and command of the constables and assistant-
constables throughout the island. Should they com-
mit an error, there is no other tribunal before
which a complaint against them can be exhibited, or re-
dress obtained. As may be readily imagined, many of those
constables are entirely subservient to the individual mem-
bers of the Court, become the ready tools and instruments
of oppression, willing, nay, eager to carry into execution
any work that may be indicated to them, to act upon the
slightest hint, nay, on the fancied wish of one of
the jurats. In return, a wide license is afforded to
them—no matter how unjust, how atrocious their
conduct may be, it is charitably ascribed to
an excess of zeal, an anxiety to discharge their duty. Thus
they are encouraged and supported by the Court, which
alone has authority over them, until their recklessness, their
violence, their cruelty have become proverbial. The Court
has accorded to them powers far beyond those entrusted
to our magistrates. For the inhabitants of Guernsey there

is neither security of house or person. The constable or
assistant-constable hesitates not to violate either at his plea-
sure—he assumes the right of domiciliary visits, the most
objectionable, probably, that could be found to exist in any
country—we had almost said free country, but that country
can not be free where such an intolerable proceeding is
fur a moment sanctioned. Within a short period all Eng-
land has rung with the indignant remonstrances of legislators
and of the press at an outrage committed on a respectable

and honourable gentleman, the sanctity of whose dwelling

had been invaded, whose domestic circle had been intruded
on, upon an unfounded and malignant accusation
contained in an anonymous letter. But still, atro-
cious as this outrage most undoubtedly was,
and just as was the public indignation it excited,
there was some little colour, something, trifling though it
was, to induce the proceeding. There was an accusation,
albeit, an anonymous one, and an excise officer was found
who could bring himself, on such an insufficient ground, to
swear that he had reason to suspect, and did suspect, that
a private still was concealed on the premises of this respect-
able gentleman, and, beyond all, a magistrate was discovered
so ignorant, or so forgetful of his duty, as to grant a search-
warrant on such a paltry foundation. All these concurrent
circumstances were necessary, and still the Legis-
lature are loudly called upon to prevent the possibility
of a continuance of a similar outrage, and most fervently
do we hope they will do so ; but in Guernsey there is no such
protection, no precaution necessary. An ignorant or mali-
cious constable may enter into and search the private dwel-
ling of any person, ransack his papers, seize his person, im-
prison him, order him into irons, into gaol, and this without
information, charge, or warrant of any description, without
even thinking it necessary to report the proceed-
ing; nay, they arrogate to themselves the power

of banishment. In Guernsey the law enacts that,

any person not a native of the island, who has or may be-
come chargeable to the public, may be exported therefrom .
The constables and assistant-constables are charged with
carrying this law into execution; they do so on their own
responsibility, in many instances on the most frivolous and
insufficient pretences, and with the most heartless and cold-
blooded atrocity. No matter how unjust, how illegal their
conduct may be, it is sanctioned and protected, and generally
applauded by the Court. Our English readers could scarcely
credit the extraordinary lengths to which they go. In
one instance an assistant-constable took into custody
an English lad for being intoxicated and noisy in the street.
The poor lad was thrown into an underground cell, where
he was detained for six days, without fire or comfort of any
kind, in the depth of winter, on the mere authority of the
assistant-constable, without conviction, without warrant,
without trial, nay, without his case having been mentioned to
the Court, or to any authority. At the end of six days a note
was written to the gaoler by the assistant-constable, telling
him that the lad might then be discharged, and he was
thereupon permitted to return to freedom, this DOGIERRI
having decided on the quantum of his punishment.
An English servant girl of excellent character, who had
always conducted herself in the most exemplary manner in
the various families in whose service she had been, unfortu-
nately for herself, went into the service of one of the faultless
natives, a married man. Her person was fair, and unhappily
attracted the attention and excited the illicit desires of her
master. She fell a victim to his arts, and the seducer
triumphed in the destruction of her virtue. She became
pregnant; her shame could no longer be concealed; bribes
were in vain offered to induce her not to betray the name of the
father of her child, they were indignantly rejected. She
was seized upon by constables, who treated her with their
accustomed brutality, and the consequence, as might have
been expected, was a premature confinement. This child
of sin and shame died within a few hours of its birth.
When recovering, a doctor called to see her ; his visit was
not desired or needed by her—nay, on the contrary, it was
strongly objected to. lie was sent by the constables, the
object being to ascertain whether she had sufficiently
recovered to be enabled to undertake a sea voyage;
he reported that she might be moved. Although a week had
not elapsed since her confinement, she was about to be
put on board a sailing-vessel, to be landed pennyless, friend••
less, and destitute on some part of the English coast' far
from her native home. Her case, however, bad excited at-
tention, had been heard of—sufficient influence was used to
stay her banishment—to compel the Court, though unwill-
ingly, to inquire into the case. They did so, and were
caltommerpneeldilselefdwearteso say that the constables' conduct was ilk-
gal—that the t
tefono forced
csi visittitfoy t h
heo
victimth expulsion.e d?o—c t owrh
at was
Aunnndoicstoi
inmwsduheucnacht:
iwnaflsicst:dapopnartehnet
?consshtaebwleass, tphleaceillegality
r thofe whose
eillance of
a n
complimented
tr
heleert i unrelenting g
brothers!f po
re r
the
zeal
theueat
ol police,rtsthey
eayn and they
hd theey powerwere
applauded
manifested.ofher
eEnglishmen, cruel
u andel
can the system be tolerated under the sanction of which such
fearful enormities are countenanced and supported?

A letter from Carlsruhe, of April 13, in the Cologne Gazette,

says: --

M. Welckeriiewas lately near
went over with
g, ;0
take
town.
Ciens.an a littl
so teik%
--v- -
"Our Opposition Member,
Abfe.infieahsnsraesiscibna, t:Lfeonrdpoofliitiiicsa,ltom
about
three hours' journey from Heidelberg,
election of a Deputy. Some warm remarks took place
in the
the polling-place, and eventually the Opposition candidate
at
was elected. A fanatic of the other party, no doubt,
con-
ceived the idea of taking revenge,
.and as the carriagta'ofxrWelcker descended a little hill outside the town, a shot v-.
fired, and a quantity of slugs entered the wood-work of tte
carriage. On arriving at Heielbe M. Welckers
lod
not ged
been
in-
formations, but the perpetrato dr
of the attempt ha
yet discovered."
The authorities have ferbidden the Perkrainco of the

opera of Les Huguenots in the theatre of Carlsrhue, in con-
sequence of the excited state of the public mind.

Madrid papers of the 13th have arrived, but their contents
are destitute of interest.

A letter which has been received., dated ➢ladrid, May 13th,
says— _ _

" General Concha has arrived hire, and has met with a
distinguished reception frum the Queen. It is said that he
will be created a Grandee of Spain for the eminent services
that he has just rendered to the Government. There are
still rumours of dissensions in the Cabinet, arising,
it is said, chiefly from the opposition of M. Mon to
some of the measures proposed by M. Isturitz. It is
worthy of remark, however, that M. Mon .has for some days
past been in so bad a state of health that he could not at-
tend the Cabinet Councils, and, therefore, cannot have taken
the active part in public affairs which is attributed to him.
Don Francisco de Paula held a grand reception to-day, it
being the anniversary of his birth. All the Ministers at-
tended to pay their respects to him. It is said that the
sister of the Duke de Rianzares has just been married to the
Duke de San Carlos."

The price of the Funds continued unaltered. Bank Stock
had, however, risen in price.

We have received the Paris papers of Tuesday.
In the Chamber of Peers on Monday the Bill relative
mineral waters was rejected by 62 to 57. The discussion on
the Budget of Expenses for 18-17 was commenced in the
Chamber of Deputies.
The French mission to China arrived at Cairo on May 7.
The edict of the Emperor of Clux,t, which orders, besides
the liberty of conscience obtained antecedently, the restitu-
tion of the churches, except those converted since their con-
ti,cation into pagodas or private dwellings—the punishment
of the non-complying mandarins, &c., was published at Can-
ton on March 18. The original was handed to M. CALLERY
on March 20. That gentleman is the bearer of this docu-
ment to Paris, and be was to leave Alexandria by the next
English packet.

The KING of the FRENCH has presented Captain POSTLE, of
11. M. steamer Flamer, with a brace of valuable pistols, as a
testimony of his admiration for his noble conduct towards the
shipwrecked crew of the French steamer Papin. Captain
POSTI,E, who was in Paris last week, was feted by M. GurzoT,
and Admiral MacKAu, the Minister of Marine. The latter
informed him that the pistols were the personal gift of his
MAJESTY.

The Three per Cents. closed at 84f. sc. ; the Five per Cents.,
120 f. ; the Orleans Railroad shares, 1,248 f .75c. ; Rouen, 1,032 f.
bee 4; llavre, 756 f. 25c ; Great Northern, 7571. 50c. ; Avignon, olor. ;
Vierzon, 6501. ; Bordeaux, 621 f. 25c. ; Boulogne, 500 f. ; Troyes
and Montereau, 392 f. 50c. ; Basle, 217 f. 50c. ; Paris and Srasburg,
50Sf. 75c. ; Tours and Nantes, 527 f. 50c. ; Paris and Lyons, 546 f. 25c. ;

Belgian Two-and-a-lialf per Cents., 56 ; Spanish Three per Cents.
; Spanish Domestic Debt, 31 M .

The following are the quotations in the new lines:—

Lyons and Ayi,gnon, Delinitives, 518 f. 75c; Bordeaux and Cettc,
Definit.ves, 507 f.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, MAY 20.
_ _

Boulogne and Amiens, 12—Central of Spain, 1% —Dutch Rhenish,
77i —East Indian, —Luxembourg, 2—Northern of France Con-
stituted, 14% —Namur and Liege, 41,i—OrIcans and Bordeaux, 103 i
--Over Yssel, 3 dis.—Paris and Lyons Constituted, 674 Paris and
Strasbourg Constituted, s—West Flanders, 24.