The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-04 00:00:00

THE S-UN, LONDON, FRIDAPir E.VENING, SEPTEMBER 4, l "7.

100, years from the date, in each instance, of one
particular occurrence. The vaticination idrefe:r
env) to the triumph of Russia over Turkey has
been flagrantly falsified even by the inadequate
results of the famous siege of Sebastopol. An
equally flagrant falsification will assuredly follow
the prediction now forcing upon us, single handed,
the yet more memorable siege of Delhi. A siege
we say more memorable, because destined, we be-
lieve, to be followed up by far more decisive and
more notable consequences. For as surely as
there is a sense of justice amongst us, as surely as
we have the blood of free men bounding in our
veins, as surely as our hearts are not the hearts
of dastards but of earnest Eaglishmen, loving
our constitutional liberties, reverein our ances-
tral reputations, prompt to defend the sanctity of
our hearths, and the chastity of our women, and
the lives of our children—so surely is the fate of
Delhi sealed with the seal of a doom such as History
will hold for centuries to come in very terrible
remembrance. THAT will bo the falsification of
the superstitious prophecy of the fall of the Anglo-
Indian Empire after a duration of One Century !

The obliteration of Delhi from the face of the
earth—the extermination of its blood-stained and
crime-blackened population ! An expiation as
dire as any of which the world has yet had record
—a vengeance as complete as it ever entered into
the human imagination to conceive ! This, and
nothing less than this, is what is demanded by
every sentiment of Humanity. This, and this
alone, and to the full, is what is required from
us in attestation to the whole`pagan world, of our
ineffable love and reverence for all the
1 sacredness of Christianity. There have been
perpetrated at Delhi, and elsewhere by
the ruffian-miscreants since then collected
together in Delhi, abominations so unutterable
that the globe is polluted until they shall have
been avenged. The Offence of these Wretohes,
more than that of the Murderer in " Hamlet"—
" Is rank, and emelli to Heaven 1"
Nothing short of the total destruction of Delhi—
the bodily sweeping of it from the face of the
earth, will afford any adequate expiation of these
nameless horrors and abominations. With Delhi
destroyed—literally and absolutely destroyed and
buried away under the dust, as a loathsome
thing to be trodden down, and if possible for-
gotten—then, but not till then, can we think
seriout-ly of the reconstruction, and reorganisation,
and reconsolidation of our Empire in Hindostan.
That first—the rest afterwards. Delhi destroyed,
we shall then, by that ono blow, have destroyed
the whole pest of the Bengal Presidency. Then,
but only then, we may console ourselves with
having vindicated tke violated majesty of Eng-
land, and more than that the outraged glory of
civilisation.

The career of the truly unfortunate Transir,
may afford a salutary lesson to "My Lords."
Should they profit thereby, the loss and inconve-
nience occasioned by her numerous accidents will
be fully compensated to the nation. We fear,
however, that Sir C. WOOD is incorrigible. Every
additional proof of the grievous mistakes into
which be has been betrayed, only strengthens and
confirms his previous impressions ; and it would
take a dozen Transits, endangering a dozen regi-

meats, to alter his views. He may say with the
old Roman—

" Video meliora probsque; deteriora sequor."
He will not have the candour or manliness to
confess his error, or to enter on a more judicious
eourse. his reason may be sitisfied, but

" The man convinced against his will
Is of the same opinion still ;"
and Sir CRAILLES WOOD will maintain his, until a
majority in Parliament compels him to bend be-
fore the storm which he can no longer resist.

It was but recently that ho delivered in the
House of Commons an elaborate eulogium on the
superior qualities of the Transit. He appeared
to be totally oblivious of the disappointment oc-
casioned to the Peers, who fancied th they
would have an opportunity of witnessing the
naval review, but who met with a deplorable
stoppage "in Transitu." He also ignored the
dangerous accident at the very commence:
meet of her voyage, when she all but foundered
before losing sight of the English coast. In vain
was it that she took refuge at Corunna almost in
a sinking state. All these mishaps only increased
his admiration, and nothing less than the loss of
an entire regiment would suffice.
Well, he has very nearly had the required proof.
Seven hundred gallant soldiers, after enduring
the most serious inconvenience, had their lives
endangered and eventually escaped, with the loss
of all their property—An:lost by a miracle t The
ill-fated vessel struck upon a coral, reef, four miles
from shore in the Straits of Ilinco. While her
head rested just above water, at her stern there
were 11 fathoms, and at one side as much as 17
fathoms. Her total loss was at once accomplished,
and so rapidly did the water gain on them, that
the troops were hurried in the boats and fortuna-
tely landed, although with the loss of all they
had previously possessed. This, bo it remarked,
was in perfectly smooth water where the sea was
like a 14ke. Had there been anything approaching
we shall not say to a storm, but even to a stiff
breeze, the great majority of these men must
have been sacrificed, and their valuable services
for ever lost to the country. A heavy surf would
have been attended with similar results. Sir C.
WOOD is not entitled to claim credit for the miti-

gated character of the catastrophe. So far as be
was concerned, the whole of the troops might have
shared the fate of the ill-fated ship.
What is required, as we have repeatedly
pointed out, is a judicious application of the
auxiliary power of the steam screw. It helps, on
an emergency, just as a pair of extra leaders may
drag an overburdened coach through a heavy
road or up a steep hill. It will carry on during
a calm, when the vessa would otherwise be lyiug
motionless on the water, and weeks may be saved

by due assistance in the time of need. It
was proved, beyond the possibility of doubt,
that the average time taken by 98 sailing-vessels
was 130 days to India, while the average of those
posEessing the auxiliary screw was but 93
days a difference of five weeks and two
days ! Why, the fate of tho Anglo-Indian
Empire may depend on far less Can tbat which
is wantonly sacrificed by the transport
system. Our large screw men-of-war would be
admirablya'lapted for the service; -and, in addition,
there are twiny old ones now lying rotting in our
harbours which could, at a trifling cxpense, be
converted into serviceable vessels by the pro-
per application of the screw. They would
last for many years under the circumstances,
and be available either as transports or for the
defence of our
coast. The gunbiatF, too, so re-
cently conttructei,
might be made useful.
could, they
How many nien convey to India or to
AL xandria ? They would be available along the
coast or at the different rivers, and, by judicious
the men conveyed acreas
thothe
arrangements,
ecenieahof mus could be speedily carried On
ready to cross bayonets with the
action, sanguinary
and treacherols mutineer:2.
The Board of Admiralty wants overhauling.
" My Lords" must b© csileil over the coals ; but
there is nothing in which reform is so much re.

quired as in the transport system. There must be
ti total chant° in that respect, if we wish to over-
come the present crisis, or to be prepared for any
future emergency that may arise.

Messrs. LEDRII ROLLIN, MAZZINI, MASSARENTI,
and CAMPANELLA have been convicted, par contu-

mace, of conspiring against the life of Louis
NArinuort, and condemned to deportation. In
one respect this is a mere brueum fulmen. The
parties are, happily for themselves, far
beyond the power of their accusers ; and it is by

no means probable that they would return to
France under the existing regime, whatever might
have been the result of the quasi trial. But, in
other respects, it may lead to serious complications.
It may be made the foundation of a series
of attacks against theT right of sanctuary which
England has invariably afforded to political refu-
gees of all classes without exception, and of which
the French EMPEROR was, at one time, only too
happy to avail himself.
It is now proved beyond the possibility
of doubt that the trial, par contumace, which

takes place in the absence of the accused, and
without his being permitted any opportunity of
defending himself, is a mere farce, under which
the most innocent would have no security. We
have already commented upon the absurd evi-
dence brought forward against the accused,
which, in this country, would not induce
a grand jury to find a true bill against
a previously convicted pickpocket, and yet it is
considered by the French tribunal as " confirma-
tion strong as proof of holy writ." There was
nothing, literally nothing, against M. LEDRU
RoLLIN, save the extorted or prepared confessions
oft vo of the self accused conspirators. As accom-
plices, their testimony an oath, where the accused
had the opportunity of cross-examining them would
be worthless. But the parties did not agree with
each other. One stated that " the stout person
with moustaches, who was called. Rodrone,Rollini,
had left the room before any improper proposi-
tion was made." The head and front of the
individuals offending, whoever he might be, was
that he had visited MAzZINI. But there was not
a particle of identification—nothing that might
not equally implicate any other stout gentleman
who did not shave his upper lip.
In the name of the people of England,
we emphatically protest against the solemn
monkery. It has not even the semblance of jus-
tice,-and for such a farce Great Britain will not
withdraw the hospitality she has ever afforded to
every claimant unstained by crime. The
judgment was cunningly withheld until
after the prorogation of Parliament, so
that the topic might not be ventilated
in either House. But we shall be greatly sur-
prised indeed if Lord PALMERSTON fall into the
trap. If there be a well•founded charge against
M. ROLLIN or his companions, the offence has
been committed on English ground, and we ven-
ture to assert that none of them will shrink from
a stringent investigation before an impartial jury.
Let such a trial tike place, and we have doubt
as to the result. But, as it is, the dodge is too
transparent. Gullible as the Engliah may be,
they cannot be prevailed upon to swallow such h
palpable canard.

LATEST NE Ws.

MARSEILLES, S. 3.

Despatches from Constantinople, of the 26 th
ult., announce that Lord Stratford de Redcliffe
and M. de Prokesch had, on the previous day,
notified to the Porte the agreement of the Allied

directing the attention of their readers to the fact
that the organ of Lord Palmerston persists in its
former opinions on the question, and that the whole
animus of the article may be found in the single
sentence :—" Notwithstanding this decision (to an-
nul the elections in Moldavia), we are firmly per-
suaded that the union is as far off as ever." The
language of our three cotemporaries of course varies,
but the purport of their remarks is identic3l.
BOURSE, Sept. 3.—The following wore the list
quota. ions :

Casb. fr. 0. End of Month.
4i per Cents
3 per Cents 66 80 67
Bank Shares 2,775 Credit Foncier 555
Credit Mobilier BBT 50 Roman
Do. Account B9O Austrian

Belgian 4
Piedmontese;(s) B9 75 Home Debt

RAILWAYS-FOR CASS.

tr. c. tr• c.
O•leans 1,430 Western
Northern
Lyons and Med 835 New Ditto -
Now Ditto 8721— Grand Central
Geneva
Midi