The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-30 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, JAN. 80, 1858.

Several telegrams have been received respecting
the progress of events in India, one of which
arrived at the Foreign•office yesterday afternoon,
and appeared in our third edition of last evening,
together with the very interesting collection of
despatches published in the latest Gazette. This
day we give a telegram received by the East India
Company at a late hour last night, and add some
others that have also come to hand. The chief
feature in the new intelligence, which covers dates
from Bombay to the 9th January instant, relates
to a victory obtained by Sir JAMES OnTRAm over
the rebels, in the vicinity of Alumbagh, on the
22d December. It appears that the gallant
General took the initiative, and, having attacked
the enemy, speedily dispersed them, and captured
four guns, with but little loss on his own
side. Such a proceeding may be in accordance
with a strictly defensive position, such as Sir
James OUTRAM was directed to maintain. The
test would be, whether the great point of defence
which ba was bound to protect could be in any
degree imperilled by the movement ? If not, he
was, of course, justified in acting according to his
own discretion.

Sir Manx Rosa had marched from Indore to
relieve Saugor, aad was expected to reach Se. doa
on the 10th instant. The population of Indore
had been disarmed, and tranquillity fully restored.
The Punjaub and Scinde were all quiet, but
strong suspicions were entertained of the Elhota-
poor -Rajah's movementi. It would seem
difficult to understand how any person should
now irrevocably cornett himself with a des-
perate cause. Experience, however, proves
that all ordinary calculations are defeated
by the movements of natives. They hold back
when there might be some ground for autici-
patinle a terapOrary triumph, but when all is
hopeleas then they have plunged recklessly into the
vortex.

On the 12th inst. Sir COLIN CAMPBELL had
marched towards Furruckabad, intending to pro-
ceed from thence to Agra. Brigadier W A LPOLE
had also proceeded towards Calpee, Mawah, and
Agra while Brigadier CHAMBERLAIN was ope-
rating in Kohilcund, intending afterwards to join
Sir COLIN, at Agra. It will thus be seen that
three distinct columns are scouring the country
in gill directions, which will subsequently be
'united at Agra, to be in readiness for any service
hit may be deemed expedient. Colonel SEATON
ad reoccupied Alynpoorie on the 27th December,

having previously defeated the rebels, and cap-
tured six guns.
The despatches, respecting tihneterreecsetnintgeavnenatsimat.
Cawnpore, are of a peculiarly
:1111 aavnedt hDeurtexplanationsris, an d thge i vuenn.
pboyrtoanentecrhaaisrawcteL.
equivocal defeat sustained by the former, which
materially endangered the position at Cawnpore,
and rendered a second massacre by no means im-
possible. We have also two despatches
from Sir CoLIN himself. The first, referring,
in some degree, to that of his subordinate,
of which he clearly disapproves, although that
disapproval is perceptible rather from what he
leaves unsaid than from what he actually says.
General WINDHAM clearly condemns himself.
It requires no further statement to show that he
not only exceeded, but acted in direct opposition
to his instructions. The significant reticence of
Sir CoLIN shows that he at once perceived the
mistake committed, which rendered it unnecessary
for him to make a direct complaint. He also
took care in the subsequent proceedings to keep
his second in command in the back ground, where
if he could not do much good he could not
do much mischief. The posts of honour and of
danger were filled by men on whom the Comman-
der-in-Chief had reason to know he could impli-
citly depend for faithfully and efficiently carrying
out his instructions, without endangering the
success of the entire movement in the attempt to
win undue laurels for themselves.

It was generally rumoured that Gen. WIND-
RA.M'S instructions were to remain strictly on the
defensive, keeping particularly in view the safety
of the bridge of boats by which the communica-
tions with the main body under Sir CoUN were to
be maintained, and the safety of the fugitives
ensured. His own statements show that this
was the case. Were it otherwise he would
not have made the abortive attempts at
explanation. "Having received information of
the Gwalior Contingent, but none for several days
from Lucknow, in answer to my letters to the
chief of the staff, I teas obliged to act for myself."
On this Sir COLIN simply and briefly remarks that
General WINDHAM'S complaint of not receiv-
ing instructions is explained by the fact
of the letters which he sent announcing
the approach of the Gwalior force not having
come to hand. The first notice of the embarrass-
ment was the distant sound of the cannonade.
But, to place the question beyond all doubt,
General WINDHAM himself repeats his instructions,
and attempts to show that he conformed there-
with. He says—" In retiring within tilt? en-
trenchments I followed the general instructions
issued to me by your Excellency through the
Chief of the Staff—namely, to preserve the safety
of the bridge over the Ganges, and my communi-
cations with your force, so severely engaged in
the important operation of the relief of Luckuow.
As far as possible I strictly adhered to the
defensive." In fact, ho fancied he was
wiser than his commander, and fondly hoped
that he would have a Gazette of his own, in which
he should rival the lamented HAVELOCK, whom he
was not permitted to supersede.
He ought under almost any circumstances to
have awaited a decided answer to his communica-
tions with the Commander-in-Chief before disre-
garding his instructions. But that did not
suit his book. To stand on the defen-
sive may be very useful—a most important
link iu the great chain of operations, but it was
not sufficiently brilliant for the dashing guards-
man. He thought he could defeat the advanced
division, and that it would strike terror into the
enemy, but he did not calculate on meeting with
so serious a rebuff ; which completely turned the
tables.

There is an unworthy sneer at Brigadier WIL-
SON' who fell so gallantly at the head of his regi-
ment. General WINDHAM says, Brigadier WlL-
sox thought proper, prompted by zeal for
the service, to lead his regiment against four
guns placed in front of Brigadier CAR.
THEW. In this daring exploit he lost his life,
together with several valuable and able officers."
This is plainly an attempt to find a scapegoat for
his own errors, and one which, we suspect, will
not prove very successful.
The whole mull may be described, in the words
of Sir CoLIN--•" All this appeared to be dis-
astrous enough, and the next day the city was
found to be in the possession of the enemy at all
points."

We cannot enter into the exploits of Sir COLIN
when he arrived, which will be found in every
way worthy of his ancient reputation, and descry
i.lg of the high eulogiums bestowed on it by the
Governor-General.

The emancipation of the Press in British India
from the temporary thraldom to which it has been
unconstitutionally subjected by Lord CANNING
and his coadjutors, in the Council at Calcutta, is,
we take It, the first duty incumbent upon the
House of Commons immediately upon the reas-
sembling of Parliament. A proceeding so dis.
graceful ought not to be tolerated beyond the in-
terval occupied by the non-sitting of the Legisla-
ture.
If for nothing else, for this, at
any rate, the present Governor-General
not only „deserves, but absolutely demands,
severe and instant reprehension. His policy, in
regard to the Press, is beyond the reach of any
possible justification. As we observed yesterday,
it is an admitted principle of the law of
England, in regard to the freedom of public and
printed discussion, that no circumstances can by
possibility arise by which the subjection of the
Press, once again to the supervision of a censor.
ship, could be viewed as in any way admitting of
justification. It has been so considered ever since
the Freedom of the Press was at length practically
and substantially and permanently secured to
Englishmen, towards the close of the last century,
thanks to the energetic and patriotic resolution
of the Right Hon. CHARLES Fox, the then leader
of his MAJESTY'S Opposition. The determination
of that great man then, at last, so signally
triumphed, that in the very teeth of a Tory
Government, the long coveted boon was acquired, 1
and acquired completely. Then, but not effectu-
ally
till then, England enjoyed in truth the price-
less advantages of free printing—printing of
whaiacthMjec.e,GUlZOT has written in his literary
masterpiece,
the "History of Civilisation"—the
theme of so much declamation and so many cora-
rnen-places,'but the merit and effects of which no
na eoln„niaace nor any declamation can ever ex-
haust."
in of our liberties, diem
wantonly ravished from
ittliiNs.citnse,stimable boon, this pall a-
subjects in Hindostan at a
a int
tthhei s
a free press were desi
hipsrtoecriyse ofiThe
by
Sir
PArniiiitpl.Fs
as it was aptly designated
thatth Lord CANNING has
ruitoleinet_jienunPit
el.
tuoesies,
ts
wuii otrhnniesi
non,fa assuredly
British
ever,
v e
r,
great Asiatic Peninsula.
it is not,
we are bold to affirm
, in any
respect whatever extravagant to declare that the
recent decision of the Council at Calcutta. (bring..
ing the journalism of British India under /the
influence of a new and a rigid censorship) take 4 us
back in imagination at a single bound tothedecis'ion
of the Star Chamber in the July of 1637, when
that despotic Court decreed, among other trifles,

that--1 aere s"hould be no more than twenty
master printers, besides those of his MAIBISTY and
the two Kiniversities ; that no printer should have
more than two presses and two apprentices ; that
there should be no more than four letter founders
allowed, cum, cceteris paribus. In regard to which
atrocious act of tyranny one of our historians and
certainly not ale least sagacious among their num-
ber, to wit, LINVARD, has remarked that " a more
effectual scheme t. 9 enslave the press could not be
devised." The present Governor-General of
India has apparently studied the records of
RUSHWORTH to some purpose. The Council at
Calcutta under his benignant auspices is modestly
but effectively emulating in the reign of Queen
VICTORIA the notorious Court of the Star Chamber
in the days of our first King CHARLES. Insomuch
that we may here, at this moment, pertinently echo
the query appended to that comment of the national
annalist—" But whence did this Court derive the
power to make such a regulation ?" Whence, in-
deed-, and at what time, and under what circum-
stances, was this enormous authoritydelegated to
the Council at Calcutta ? An authority upon the
exercise of which no Administration in this
country—however rashly daring—would have
presumed for a single instant to have
adventured. The legality of the course thus
pursued, in a matter of this vital import,
Lord CANNING and his colleagues in Hindostan,
is precisely what we would now have at once
boldly discussed and clearly and definitively ascer-
tained by the Imperial Legislature.