The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-04 00:00:00

CHINA.

The accounts from China are down this month to Dec.
24, but there is scarcely anything worth noticing. Busi-
ness in Canton had, however, considerably improved ;
but in the article of opium, both here and at other places,
hardly any sales had been effected, but at considerable
loss to the holders.

The ratification of the supplementary treaty had been
received from the Emperor, and Captain Brooke, of the
55th Regiment, was on his way with it and other
dispatches for the home Government.
The sickness at Hong-Kong has become almost ex-
tinct ; and the wives of the soldiers are said to have
suffered more severely during its prevalence than the
men themselves, from carelessness on their part, and the
want of proper shelter.
At Shanghae trade continued dull, owing to some very
partial restrictions imposed by the Emperor on the Cus-
toms department, a subject which was about to be brought
to the attention of Sir H. Pottinger.
The Cornwallis transport, from England, had safely
arrived at Hong-Kong with the recruits and officers of
the 98th Regiment, Major-General d'Aguilar, Com-
mander of the Forces in succession to Lord Saltoun.

THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA.
(From the Times.)
The following interesting letter, from a correspondent
whose experience in India entitles his opinions to atten-
tion and who has access to peculiar sources of informa-
tion in that country, reached us, in consequence of some
unexplained delay, only a few days since. Although, as
a mere matter of intelligence, it has been, of course, an-
ticipated by the papers which arrived in due course by
the last mail, the letter contains so'much of interest upon
the state of affairs in India, that it will amply repay
perusal :

CAMP, DECCAN, JANUARY, 1844.
The old year, which began with war, has ended, al-
lough there was a temporary lull, with war also ; and
you will not be surprised, after the', tenor of my late
letters, to hear that a general action has been fought
near Gwalior, and that the Mahratta army of Sindia has
been defeated with heavy losS. 'W7hat may be your
English ideas upon this subject I know not, but there
appears considerable difference of opinion upon the sub-
ject in India, if we may believe the press, some having it
that Lord Ellenborough has acted only as he ought to
have done, and as it was impossible .for him
to avoid ; others, that this is but a new edi-
tion of the Sinde affair, as unjustifiable and as
unprovoked. I confess I do not join with either
at present. Many very hasty and improper judgments
were promulgated in almost every new affair last year.
As yet we know nothing regarding the Gwalior affairs.
No copies of treaties have transpired quietly, no confi-
dential correspondence has oozed out of the Secretariat;
in fact, these are very different times to those of the
Auckland Administration, when everybody knew every-
thing that went on in every_clepaament, and when, if
there was any doubt on the subject, whole draughts of
letters were published and commented on. Now all is
as close as secresy can make it. All the newspapers or
the people can do is to conjecture, for not a hint of a
public paper now gets wind to refresh weary, waiting
correspondents, and enable them to make their letters
really valuable. Lord Ellenborough's orders have been
marvellously obeyed on this point certainly, and it shows
the discipline in which the offices now are in comparison
with what they were. For this reason the public is igno-
rant of the real terms of this Gwalior war, and it is
only to be hoped that there was a good cause for it,
which may transpire hereafter. Some causes are,
however, obvious, and they may be all. I proceed
to narrate events as they bave occurred. In my
last, I may have informed you of the Governor-
General's arrival at Agra; perhaps not—at all events,
you will have heard of it through the papers. A few
days after his arrival, the army began its march towards
Gwalior, in gradual portions, Lord Ellenborough ac-
companying the main body—determined, I conclude, to
be his own political manager, and to trust no one in an
affair of such delicacy and importance as this. Some
people find fault with this, but, for my own part, I think
I see that, come praise, or . come blame, Lord Ellenbo-
rough has determined to answer for the Gwalior affair
himself ; and I rather admire his accompanying the
army, though not his subsequent conduct, which will
expose him to much animadversion, I fear. At the
news of the move of the troops, the Gwalior Durbar was
violently agitated, and there was some bloodshed in the
camp, in consequence of the quarrels of the troops. Sir
Richmond Shakespeare was on the spot, and supposing
the possession of the Dada Rhasgee to be the whole of
our desire, the Bhaee made up her mind to part with her
favourite, and he was made over to Sir Richmond with-
out any stipulation whatever. This looked like uncon-
ditioaal surrender ; the most pacific messages were in-
terchanged, and it is said Lord Ellenborough's demands
were admitted by the Bhaee and Durbar, and that all
promised a pacific termination. He dismissed the siege
train, which had gone some marches to Agra, and there
was nothing heard of but the festivities which were
to ensue, when the Bhaee Regent, and the young Raja
met the army on the Chumbuk or at Dholpoor. All this
has, however,. turned out very indifferently,and the causes
of the change are not very difficult to observe. It was
one thing for a weak Ranee, and a few of her party, to
give a nominal assent to demands which, in all proba-
bility, according to Mahratta- usage and custom, they
had not the slightest intention of abiding by; and quite
another for those most affected by them—a lawless sol-
diery, and their even more lawless leaders—to submit
to them. By accounts from correspondents at Gwalior,
it appears that of the principal leaders some chose to
obey the summons of the Ranee to Durbar, others chose
to disobey them. In fact, those who had anything to
gain went, and those who had all to lose stayed away.
No one appears to have been under the least control.
Faction appears to have been dominant to the last; till,
when destruction or starvation threatened all, all united
in that aggression or opposition, call it what you will,
which produced the general action. In some respects the
troops have acted like those of Sinde, but not so the
Ranee, who, when the British troops had fairly crossed
the Chumbuk, though the Governor-General s having
ordered back the siege train may appear pacific, consi-
dered such an advance as a virtual invasion of her king-
dom, and did her best to inspire her troops with spirit
enough to oppose the advance. As yet, as I have said,
we know nothing of the previous negotiations ; very pro-
bably vague promises were made by the Durbar,
which were evaded when a settlement was pressed.
Major Sleeman was deputed to Gwalior to ascertain real
intentions ; and from the non-effect of his persuasions,
it may be inferred either that the Ranee possessed no
power to abide by her promises, wanted the inclination,
or that the troops would not allow her. The British
troops advanced, and encamped within a short distance
of the Mahratta force ; a reconnoitering party, under the
Quartermaster-General, was fired on, and thus hostilities
commenced.
You, and half the press of England, if not the whole,
will cry out that such an armed advance, as in the case
of Sinde, is equal to a declaration of war, and that the
Gwallior Durbar had no resource, in honour, but to op-

pose it. But, on reflection, you will find a material dif-
ference between the two. We cannot call the Gwalior a
tributary State, bat it has long been a dependent one.
Sinde was neither one nor the other, entirely inde-
pendent, and having a right to do what it pleased with
its own. While a regular succession existed in the
Gwalior State, we might not have had any right of in-
terference, but when this ceased, and the suc-
cession was continued only on sufference as it
were, and, in my humble opinion, a very mis-
taken principle, we became invested with a right of
control, at any rate during any minority. When this
was defied or evaded, and when a very largo body of
mutinous and disaffected troops could not be controlled
by a weak intriguing woman, and a factious Regent, I
think we could not delay a settlement of what, if pro-
longed, would have become without doubt a nucleus for
the disaffected of central India, and a fertile cause of
future trouble and expense. With the full consent of
the State, we have regulated and controlled affairs at
Gwalior for 14 or 15 years, and no measure has been
undertaken without our consent. A contingent was
established, of no great magnitude certainly, but enough
to prove the footing we were on. The disgraced
Minister was appointed with the Governor-General's
concurrence, and the adoption of the present boy was
only with his consent. I distinctly recognise his right
to have forbidden it, according to Indian usages, but
there may be other stipulations in treaties of which I am
not aware. Having this authority, could we in honour
. put lap with the disgrace of tile man of whom wo had ap-