The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-15 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 1857

Another war in Affghanistan S Remember the
last war there—the frightful war of 1838—with
all its horrors, and all its disasters, and all its
humiliations. And then reflect whether we have
not reasons enow, in all conscience, for the most
vigilant forethought and the most extreme pre-
caution, now that we are actually embarking once
more upon the perils of a military campaign
against Persia thorough Affghanistan! Recollect
for a moment some few among the conspicuous
facts, constituting, in the former struggle, the
"head and front" of DosT MAHOMMED'S Offending.
Recall to mind, not simply we mean, the bar-
barous assassination of Sir ALEXANDER BuRNEs
and of Sir WILLIAM M‘NAGEITEN, but all the
terrible havoc, turmoil, and confusion that
ensued. The utter rout of the British forces at
the battle of Beh-meru-hill ! The agonising

slaughter at the passage of the Kyber Pass ! The

precipitate and disastrous retreat from the province
of Caubul I The wholesale butchery at the city of
Caubul ! The previous massacre at Gaudannuck!
The subsequent calamity at Mookhoor ! The more
than decimation, the literal and absolute annihil-
ation, of the Goorkha Regiment. The loss of a
whole noble army—the Army of the Indus—
with the miserable exception of a mere slued of
it : a little group of gallant fellows redeemed
almost by a miracle from the jaws of death, like a

single boat's crew from the shipwreck of an
Armada ! The irretrievable loss beyond all this
heroic blood, beyond all these chivalrous souls "lone
to death" among the rocky fastnesses of Affghauis -
tan, beyond the loss of all our military character
for the time being, and of our hitherto invincible
and irresistible reputation—of treasures amount-
ing in the aggregate to not less than 20,000,0001.
Recollect all this, and then say whether the last
war in Affghanistan, the war of 1833, carries
with. the mere remembrance of it, a lesson of warn-
ing, or an incitement to prudence.
It must, nevertheless, be borne in recollection,

at the same time, that the new conflict upon
which since the Ist of last November we may be
said to have adventured, is a war, not this time
' against DOST MAHOMMED, but against the SHAH
of Persia, a war not in Affghanistan, but through
Affghanistan. So differently are we situated at
the present moment in regard toCaubul and DOST
MAHOMMED that Sir JOHN 'NEIL'S proposition
of 1838, urging upon our authorities the policy
of subsidising the latter and enlisting the troops
of the former upon the side of Britain, is actually,
if not already accomplished, at any rate within
reach of realisation. Utterly idle, however,
would it be to iely upon either the strength or
the consistency to be derived from the Affghan
Princes under the leadership of DOST MAHOMMED,
In this new struggle in arms by sea and by land
against Russo-Persian ambition—not Persian
ambition alone, observe I but against Russo-Per.
sian ambition—we must (considering the justice
of our cause) rely solely upon ourselves, under
the aid OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. The Anglo-Indian
fleet in the Persian gulf, the Anglo-Indian troops
under the command of their gallant Sepoy
General, Brigadier CHAMBERLAYNE, must look
for victory, under HEAVEN, not to the
accident of any casual assistance that may come
from the side of their Cabul auxiliaries, but
simply, and entirely, and exclusively to
themselves. Having the sense of a solid support
behind them, such as would be derivable from
a grand reserve of (say) from 20,000 to
30,000 fresh troops, in round numbers. There
is at the very least, however, the satisfac-
tion in regard to old DOST MAHOMMED and his
Affghan mercenaries, that if, in the oncoming
struggle, they may not be with us, they are not to
be against us. So far so good. But let us go •
further, if possible ; let us guard, by the most I

vigilant precautionary measures, against the

chances of any surprise or of any deception. We
have the wiliest foe to deal with, and the wiliest

friends. Let us, on either band, be watchful.
And, above all, let us never lose the recollection
of the warning addressed to England not so very
long ago by England's greatest Captain—Never to
embark in a Little War I It would be well to add
to that solemn injunction the supplemental advice
—never to embark in a Weak War, a Partial
War, in any War, in fact, that is not a War in
genuine earnest, a War, as the phrase is, d
l'outrance I Had he lived to witness the Crimean
Struggle, the Duke of WELLINGTON must assuredly
have reprobated a Weak War no less earnestly
than he reprobated what ho called a Little War !
He at least could not have been wholly satisfied
with a Caucasian Campaign ending for England
in the loss of Kars—with a bombardment of
Odessa leaving the city, at the end of it, still in
the hands of the Russians—with an eleven
months' siege of Sebastopol closing with the North
Forts still untaken by the united legions of the
Allies—with a Peace at last consented to without
the whisper of an indemnity, after the loss, to
England alone, of from 20,000 to 30,000
gallant soldiers, and of from 80,000,0001. to
100,000,0001.

No— startling though it may sound so to put
it, it is incumbent upon us, in the name
of mercy, in the name of humanity,
not to have again, if we can help
it, either a Weak War, or a Little War, now that
we have actually drawn the sword once more
against Persia—particularly now that our army
has had to march against Persia through the
awful and perilous passes of Affghanistan. Let
the new war be neither a Weak War nor a Little
War, but a War bold, prompt, vigorous, and—
in one word—thorough !

The Neuchatel Difficulty still on the Cards of
European Diplomacy gives promise at last of
approximating to something like a decisive settle-
ment. Everybody almost has had a finger in the
pie—a pie hitherto, by the way, about as satisfac-
tory as "Printers' !" But, until now, with
vary little prospect even of being brought to the
ultimate stage of completion. Prussia very com-
prehensibly of course—Marplot as she ever proves
herself to be whenever any opportunity for so
doing offers itself in the complicated affairs of
Christendom—hankering all the while avowedly
for the liberation of the Prisoner, for their
liberation instantly and unconditionally ! Swit-
zerland evincing very naturally, and sagaciously at
the same time, a profound reluctance to conduct
anything of the kind until some distinct guaran-
tee should have been given by the Government
of Berlin, some positive and reliable guarantee as
to the ulterior renunciation by FREDERICK WIL-
LIAM of his hypothetical right of sovereignty over
the disputed prize—Neuchatel! Every now and
then coming ineffectually between the disputants
—England, and France, and Austria, and even at
last Russia herself, fresh from tie Conferences,
and, therefore, most amiably alive to the abstract
charms of conciliation. All to no avail. To no
actual avail whatever So that more than four
months have elapsed in these futile and, as they
have proved, absolutely frivolous negotiations. At
k length, for the first time since the insurrectionary
movement of last September, there appears to
be a likelihood of matters being brought to a tardy
but final settlement. The Diplomatists, not
merely of Berne and Berlin, but those also of
London and Paris, of Vienna and St. Petersburg,
have been all this while idly beating about the
bush—and even Now can scarcely be said to be
well out of the wood. The difficulty all the time
being obviously to reconcile the claims of Prussia
with the rights of Switzerland. To the attain-
ment of which end, the most straightforward
course would have been from the first, what is
actually only now (after more than a third of a
year's haggling and wrangling)—being approached,
namely, the making of the liberation of the Pri-
soners contingent upon the guarantee of Prussia
that there should be a definite settlement
immediately thereupon, for once and for
all, of the " vexed question " of the
right of sovereignty over Neuchatel. This ar-
rangement even now, as we have intimated, is not
by any means arrived at—it is only at this
moment being approached. Still it is being ap-
proached : and so far matters are in consequence
assuming an aspect a little more satisfactory. Tt
will be an absolute mercy to Europe when the mon-
strous and unnatural claim advanced on the part of
Prussia shall really have been at last entirely dis-
sipated. Switzerland will then be relieved from
a source of constant irritation, and may then,
more effectually than ever, dedicate her undivided
energies to the better organisation of her noble
republican institutions and to the larger develop•
ment of all the resources of the whole Federation.

Although we have no great faith in Sir G. C.
LEWIS, Ire cannot believe that he will venture to
rely on the " pettifogging quibble," so loudly
denounced not merely by the victims, but by one
of his own colleagues, the First Naval Lord of
the Admiralty. The pressure from without is
too stringent—the voice of public opinion too
distinct to admit of doubt. It has penetrated into
the innermost recesses of Downing-street, and the
"demurrer" being disposed of the question must now
be met on tbesubstantial merits. The people have
at last been thoroughly aroused. After 14 years'
suffering the iron has penetrated into their very
souls. They now appreciate the gross injustice of
the system, and are resolved on obtaining an effec-
tual, albeit a tardy, remedy. Meetings are held
in the different districts, in which members of
Parliament are obliged to express their views ; and
the sentiments thus promulgated must find an
echo within the Imperial Palace at Westminster.
Men of all classes and varieties of political opinion
have already spoken, and none have dared to de-
fend the collection of the war 9d. to April, 1858,
or the system under which it was levied.
A very important meeting was held at Droit-
wich, on Monday, at which Sir J. S. PAKINGTON,
one of the leading members of " Her MAJESTY'3
Opposition," expressed his views clearly and un-
equivocally. The Right Honourable Baronet may,
in this instance, be regarded as the mouthpiece
of the party, and although, as an ex-Cabinet
Minister, he was obliged to maintain a degree of
reserve, he yet let out sufficient to show that the
Derbyites are fully cmscious of the strength of
the position, and that they are prepared, if neces-
sary, to risk an encounter on the question.
The Right Hon. Baronet would not say that
the extraordinary verbiage of the Act which raised
the question was more than " a mere accident."
But he unhesitatingly declared that, although its
continuance might be "carrying it out accord-
ding to the strict letter of the law, it was not iu
consonance with its spirit," and that " the spirit
as well as the letter should be respected." He
justly claimed credit for the attempt made by Mr.
DISRAELI, when Chancellor of the Exchequer, 'o
discriminate between incomes derived froze
accumulated property and the earnings of indus-
try. But that, as we have frequently stated,
was but " the introduction of the sharp end of
the wedge." It might have been accepted as a
beginning, but nothing now will du but a fair
P roperty Tax, where every person in the enjoyment
Of A fixed and certain income shall contribute ac-