The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-05 00:00:00

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LONDON, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 1844.

The scenes which have taken place in Sinde within
the last two years are perhaps the most remarkable
on record. Major UUTRAM, with about a hundred
men, was taken by surprise at Hyderabad, but by his
daring courage, seconded by the bravery of his com-
panions, he succeeded in reaching the camp of Sir
CHARLES NAPIER. That gallant General, one of the
three NAPIERS so well known by Englishmen and
Frenchmen, too, for their exploits in the Peninsular,
was in a situation no less critical than that from
which OUTRAN had escaped. He was about to be
surrounded by at least forty thousand men, com-
manded by the hunting Ameers of Sinde, and among
these was a large body of Beloochees, the most warlike
race on the Indus. The Anglo-Indian force did not
exceed three thousand men, but NAPIER
was not dismayed. The enemy were en-
trenched in a strong position, with numerous
squadrons of cavalry, and a powerful artillery, and
looked forward with confidence to a complete victory.
Skill and bravery, however, soon put to rout this vast-
hest ; the Ameers were taken prisoners, the Beloochees
fled in every direction, and in a few days Hyderabad,
with all its treasures, was in possession of the victor.
A second attempt was made some fifteen days after-
wards, and the result was equally honourable to the
British arms. All the hostile troops were soon ex-
pelled from the country, and the mouth of the Indus
was secured to England. With a strange perversity
however, nearly all the London journals made violent'
attacks on Lord ELLENBORWGII and Sir CHARLES
NAPIER for these noble achievements : they described
the Ameers as martyrs, exhibited great compassion for
their unoffending subjects, and when the usual un-
healthy season came on, and some of our troops were
attacked by fever, one of these journals asserted that
such was the prostration of the British army that a
few Beloochees might have put them all to death. We
took a different view of the state of affairs, chiefly
from the conviction that a fever on the banks of the

Indus was not more fatal than one on the banks of
the Ganges, and that, although some of the lying
,;ottruala of Bombay and Calcutta gave the most me- 1

fortresses will in a short time be established on its
banks, which will set at defiance all the forces of the
west, and the hopes of Russia and Persia for the in-

vasion of India are at an end. England owes this
great ach'evement to the discarded Governor-General
and to the hero Aleanee.

Whilst our French neighbours, under one of those
accesses of political credulity which so frequently
betray them into apprehensions very alarming to
themselves, but very amusing to all the rest of the
world, are endeavouriug to inflate the Otaheite
question into one of meditated universal empire, on
our parts, in the southern hemisphere; we propose to
say a few words on a subject somewhat more grave,
but considerably less palatable, we suspect, to their
vicious appetite for Anglo-denunciation. Our
Parisian Contemporaries are so very earnest in
their invectives, that we suppose ourselves bound,
in courtesy, to assume that they really believe
what they say,—and attach a bond fide meaning to
what they write—touching the Society Islands. On
this principle we collect that they imagine our con-
nexion with the affairs of Otaheite to subsist and be
maintained for no other purpose but gradually to
assume possession of the island, and to provide its
government. That our interposition to protect the
unfortunate POMA RE from thebrutality of some obscure
French officers, whose acts have been substantially dis-
avowed by their own Government, was but the cloak for
a deeply formed plan for getting her into our ovvn power,
and dictating our own terms for her compulsory ac-
ceptance, under the hopeless restraint of our superior
strength. That Mr. PRITCHARD, our Consul, in re-
ceiving and consoling the unhappy QUEEN, and re-
moving her under the safeguard of the British flag,
and entering his Consular protest against the proceed-
ings of the French authorities, as contrary to the
law of nations and derogatory to British honour—was
really animated by the desire imputed to him, of
" raising a general insurrection in the island,
for the extermination of all the French subjects inha-
biting it." That this gentleman(for whose imprisonment,
in spite of all Lord ABERDEEN'S coaxable facility
in bolting diplomatic apologies, we must yet have
ample, express, and measured explanations or satis-
faction), was really exhibiting, in his own person a
• • _ •1. dpci sne tattooed
aborigines of Otaheite. We must be content for the
• resent to leave these lively fancies undisturbed; for
we are about to turn from this tiny speck on the great
waste of the Southern Ocean, to which an accident,
or the caprice of the French public, has attached
so exaggerated an importance ; to the contempla-
tion of the present affairs of a magnificent empire
in the East, held by this country in undisputed pos-
session, and impinging largely, with its boundary
lines, on the vast continent and seas of Asia. An
inspection of the "Accounts respecting the Annual
Territorial Revenues and Disbursements of the East
India Company, for three years, 1839-40, 1840-41,
1841-42" (ordered by the House of Commons to be
printed on the 16th of July), would go far, we con-
ceive, to disabuse the most determined enemy of per-
fidious Albion, in the Paris j'urnals, on the subject of
our interested attentions to the successor of TA-
MEHAM EA !
It would be quite out of place to enter, here, into
any recapitulation, however brief, of the geographical
position, extent, natural and political resources, pro-
ductions, population, &c. &c., of the several countries
and nations comprehended under the jurisdiction
each of our Indian Presidencies. The very best
test —among practical men—of colonial possession
and authority, is identified with the actual
receipt and disbursement of enormous revenues. In
our Presidency of Bengal, for instance, these are
derived, mainly, from such undoubted evidences of
paramount sovereignty and established power, as post-
office collections, stamp, mint, customs and excise
duties, land revenue ; and the yield of particular
branches of revenue that are farmed, such as
those from the sales of salt and opium. To these
may be added the equally significant attesta-
tions of political supremacy, furnished by ter-
ritorial receipts, as those from the "territory ceded by
the Burmese ; subsidies received from the Nagpore
Government; tributes from the Nizam, Rajhpoot,
and other states ;" also the " charges" on the other
side, including military, war, and marine charges
The same items, to a great extent, supply the ele-
ments of the return for the " North 'Western
Provinces," late the Agra Presidency ; and in the
accounts for " Madras," are added, among " revenues,''
"Subsidies from Mysore, Travancore, and Cochin." In
the statement for the "Bombay" Presidency, we find
the addition of " Subsidy from the Cutch Govern-
ment ;" and among the charges—for the Indian navy
and marine alone, no less than 13,26,857 rupees. But
what are the more striking results of this elaborate
exposition of the affairs of this more than Imperial
domination, mainly administered by a score of
British merchants at home, and their confidential
servants in the East, civil, political, and military, with
udicial, and military staffs, invincible armies, com.
manded by some of the ablest officers in the world
_ _ _

and an admirable marine to uphold and vindicate
their power ? In the first place, let us take " Charges
defrayed in England, on account of the Indian terri-
tories in each of the four years, 1839-40 to 1842-43

Inclusive." The " Dividends to proprietors of East
[ndia Stock " varied little; the amount ranging

from 625,8851. to 626,4771. per annum ; the value of

" stores" consigned to India from 290,6771. to

333,0891. Steam-vessels (purchase and equipping) in
the first year of this term cost 192,8291. ; in the last,

50,0091. Furlough and retired pay to military and
marine officers, 488,7011. to 535,6081. per annum.
Payments on account of her MAJESTY'S troops
serving in India, from 150,0001. to 400,0001.
a year. General charges from 514,6721. to 533,6971.,
&c. &c. The total for 1842-3 was 2,458,1931. The
preceding year it was nearly 400,0001. more.
In the second place, we take the " General Ab-
stract of the Revenues and Charges of India." '1 he
"revenues" of all the presidencies and provinces was
for the last years 1842-3, no less than 17,164,8361.
And notwithstanding the enormous outlay in-
cident on our operations and position in the
countries north and west of the Indus, the total
expenses, including the total, of war charges, were
only 912,223/. in excess of revenue. This result may
be considered as an irrefragible proof of the elasticity

f lancholy accounts of the ravages committed by this
epidemic, their exaggerations were so glaring that no
rational being could consider them entitled to the
slightest credit. Time has brought the truth to light.
Never was an army in finer condition than that of
Sir CHARLES NAPIER,
was
to the latest intelli-
gence, and never was a nation so delighted
at the dethronement of despots as the Be-
loochees and the other inhabitants of Sinde. No
disturbance whatever has taken place in the whole
extent of the country: the removal of the Ameers
is felt as one of the greatest blessings that could
have been conferred on their subjects, because they
were oppressed ten times more than were the op-
pressed people of other Indian States. The govern-
ment of the English has inspired these simple-
hearted people with the highest hopes, and no portion
of the British possessions in the East is more secure
now than the valuable territory which, but two years
ago, was under the uncontrolled dominion of the
hunting Ameers and the plundering Beloochees.
Could there be a better proof than the scene which
took place before Sir CHARLES NAPIER, at Hydera-
bad, on the 24th of May ? We have no instance of
such a magnificent and peaceable display. Twenty
thousand Beloochees assembled at Hyderabad on
that day, the birth-day of our gracious QUEEN, to pay
a friendly visit to Sir CHARLES NAPIER. They were
orderly in the extreme ; they were received with the
utmost kindness, and they separated, astonished at
the mildness of civilised nations, and at the punctual
fidelity with which every promise made to them had
been observed. It is this honourable conduct, which has
raised the British name to such an eminence in India,
and which promises to spread its influence over every
spot of that vast continent. No man acquainted with
the state of the country can look at the acquisition of
Sinde without the greatest exultation. The chains
have been broken from the limbs of the slaves, the
industry of the people has been set at liberty, the
exactions of the Ameers have ceased, and a regular
system of government has been established, but even
these advantages, great as they are, sink into compa-
rative insignificance when we survey the vast
results of this " atrocious aggression." The Indus is
free from Kurrachee to the confines of Affghanistan
and the Punjaub; a new trade has sprung up; the pro
duce of the upper region is floated down the river