The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-14 00:00:00

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the sovereignty of the Queen. Such was the true state of LITERATURE.
he case as far as he had been able to ascertain it. THE EDINBURGH REP lETV, No. 165; Mr. J. A. smrrii wished to know whether these papers
July, 1845.
could be laid on the table of the House.
Two articles in the present number will be read with
' Mr. HOPE had no objection tii present them, and would
talkie the eat Lest opportunity of laying them on the table of the much interest, namely, "The Bokhara Victims" anti
House. " Luther's Correspondence and Character." It is need-.
Mr. HU3IE presented several petitions from Scotland less to say that the murder of Colonel Stoddart anir
avainst the 135 and 136 clauses of the Scottish poor law, Captain Conolly has caused throughout the United
praying that they may be expunged from the Bill, and - Kingdom, nay, we might say the whole civilised world,
stating that unless a compulsory assessment were made itandregret. They were, to certain great sorrow
wi.a:it be utterly impossible to obtain that amount of assistance agents of England, and the former especially was recom-
%%lnch the poor needed,
mended by the British Envoy at the Court of Persia, in
GAME-LAWS.
Mr. HUME al,o presented a petition from Mr. Charles ! the strongest terms, to the favourable consideration of her
Henry Russell, against the 12th clause of the game-law. He ' Majesty's Government for his services in Persia and
stated that, since the statute of 1799, there had been the ' the adjoining countries. Partly on account of these re-
utmost uncertainty respecting the laws for the protectien of j commendations he was instructed to proceed to Bokhara.
gable. In cansequcrice of an informality he hail been subject to These circumstances are urged by the Reviewer as
taxes costs of a heavy smimunt, and he prayed to be relieved avicience which should have made Captain Grover
from the heavy expense to which he had been subject. hesitate before he asserted that " for a diplomatic
LORD ELLENBOROUGH• i miss on, requiring coolness and self-command, a man
Mr. HUME begged to withdraw the notice respecting Lord less adaprea to the purpose could not readily have been
Ellenborough and Indian affairs.
met with." We believe this assertion has been very
GAME LAWS.
Mr. G. BERKELEY heard that a person convicted of generally blamed, partly for its bad taste, and partly
poaching had had his punishment remitted, and he wished to because, after the seiTices of Colonel Stoddart in various
know if that was true, and what were the grounds for the re- missions, it was not consit2ered well founded. The article
mission. throughout is directed chieti,:' against Captain Grover's

Sir JAMES GRAHAM said, that in answer to the Han.
Member's question, in reference to the case he had mentioned,
he ( Sir J. Graham) begged to say that the conviction before
the Court in that in tance was sent to the Home-office, and owing
to the representation then made, the order for the liberation
of the party had been issued, but net until a subsequent inves-
tigetion by him ( Sir James Graham) ; and it was upon a mis-
taken view of the law by him, owing to a clerical error, that
Le had been liberated.
NEW' ZEALAND.
Lord HOWICK should like to know from the Secretary to
the Colonies whether he had altered his intentions in reference
to New Zealand, in consequence of the information that had
arrived from thet colony within a few days.
Sr J. GRAHAM begged that the Noble Lord would post-
pone h'e question, seeing that his Hon. Friend the Secretary
to the Colonies was abet et.
Mr. HOPE, in answer to a question from Mr. Eindley, said I
that no report of an official character had been received from
the Gavernor ; but from what he had sten in ten public
papers, he should say that a wrong impression had gone
:,broad as to the actual state of the facts. He believed
the feet was, that the collision that had taken place occurred
beyond the ',wits of the jurisdiction of the British Government,
end in an independent colony, established by missionaries.
The collision, moreover, seemed to be connected with occur-
rences which took place at a distance of two hundred miles
from the British territory. The boors who had emigrated
were those who were opposed to the abolition of slavery, and
they were nut at all connected with those at Port
Natal. There was at present a considerable force at the
Cape, and five hundred cavalry had been added, who would be
sefficieitt for the protection of the Beers. The Gricquas were
not subjects of her Majesty, but the troops would nevertheless
protect them.
In answer to a question from Mr. HINDLEY,
Mr. HOPE said that the Boors who had emigrated had
always been regarded by her Majesty's Government as subjects of
the British Crown. This principle which he now contended
for was not a new one which he advocreed when he entered
those walls—he had occasion to assist in several cases where the
same was upheld and vindicated. In the celebroted case called
emphatically, and justly " the Parliamentary Privi-
lege Case, wherein Sir Francis Burdett raised the
most important question concerning its limits ever yet pro-
Funded, he had argued its merits in every stage, and even on a
writ of error before their Lordships' bar, and in presence of the
Judges of the land called in to give their advice.
(LEFT SPEAKING.)

book,vhich certainly does nOi'meegt with either favour or
mercy. According to the writer, he ;es us little Accurate
or authentic information that had not beiere been Maw"'
public, respecting the two unfortunate men whose Wetory
was so full of melancholy interest, nor does be enligieten
our ignorance on the social condition of the people of
Bokhara, or anything else connected with the country of
its chitec who has been guilty of such atrocious deeds. Tie
face, he attaches more blame to the British Government
than the King of Bokhara fur the untimely death of
Stedclard eel Conolly. We concur with the review, that
Cspt. Grover has not made out his case, and we are also 01
opinion that both Lord Auckland, Lord Palmerston, and
the Marquis of Clanricarde, then at the Court of St.
Petershurgh' did everything that could be done to save
th •ir lives. But the Khan was beyond their reach, the*
catastrophe at Cunhal had excited his savage jealousy,.
and the defeat of the Caubul division had convinced him
teat he might commit any indignity upon England and
any cruelty on British subjects with impunity. The
mission of Dr. Wolff, too, is described as totally un-
called for, as proofs of the murder of these
unfortunate men had been received of which there
could be no possible doubt. The following extracts
on these points will be read with painful interest, 1p
may be necessary to state that Sir William Maenaghten
had instructed Captain Conolly to proceed to Bokhara,
and that this mission had also been solicited by the King'
hinisele for the purpose probably of getting another
victim within his grasp. Conolly accordingly proceeded
to that place and joined hi • friend.
He was received with a show of friendship. A house
was assigned for his residence. He became the guest of the
Ameer, and, according to the custom of the country, a daily
sum was therefore provided for his maintenance. On the
10th November, Col. Stoddart took leave of the Russian
mission, and went to reside with his countryman. Towards
the close of that month intelligence of the insurrection at
Caubul, of the slaughter of Sir Alexander Burnes and many
of the English, and the destruction of the English influence
in Affghanistan, was rec,ived at Bokhara. The intelligence'
gained consistency and strength, acid seeing them cut off`
from all support, the Ameer had both the British officers
placed in confinement on the 19th. Their servants and at-
tendants were seized at the same time; the whole of their
property was plundered, and an envoy from Shah Shoojah
was also arrested. Akhondzadeh Saleh Mahommed. who
had come frosts Caubul and Maya, to join Capt. Conolly at
Bokhara, was seized and imprisoned, and his property plun-
dered. The efforts of the Russian minister were ineffectual
to procure their liberation ; and M. Boutenieff finding that
the Ameer had assumed a haughty and insolent tone towards
himself, and that the safety of his party, too, might be come
promised, found it necessary to leave Bokhara in the spring.
The latest intelligence that had been received from these
officers was a note from Col. Stoddart, dated the 11th April,
1842. All the information on the accuracy of which any
reliance can be placed, represents them to have been put to
death by order of the A meer, and by his chief executioner,
in little-more than two months from that time.
" The first authentic intelligence of this event was commu-
nicated to Col. Sheil by the Akhondzadeh Saleh Mahommed,
whose narrative is dated the 23d November, 1842. The.:
Akhondzadeh was at Bokhara at the time, having been re-
leased from prison only a few days before. He was a_ person'
in confidential employment with Capt. Conolly. He had-
given proofs of courage and fidelity, while employed to con-
vey money to Capt. Abbot in Khiva, such as are rarely to
be found amongst the people of any nation. He had bear
imprisoned, chained, plundered of all he possessed at Bokhara,
because of his connexion with the English. His narrative
was clear and consistent, and bore every internal evidence
of truth, which those who are accustomed to weigh the
value of testimony, especially of Asiatic testimony, look for.
in such a narrative. Col. Sheil, who had personally_ com-
municated with him, was convinced of his veracity. He had-
no imaginable motive to deceive. He was communicating
intelligence which he knew would cause pain, and which;
might make him less acceptable. He had claims upon the
British Government for the sufferings he had undergone, and
the property he had lost in its service. He must have felt
that he would forfeit these claims if he should be found to
have made a false statement, and that he might be liable to
detection at any moment, if those whose death he reported
were yet alive. The perfect accuracy of the earlier part of
his narrative was confirmed by the testimony of Mr. Abbot,
and by the last letter received from Capt. Conolly, which
detailed the circumstances preceding and attending his im-
prisonment. It is true he had not witnessed the execution,
but he had seen the graves; and he had received an account
of what hall passed from the executioner, who even offered
to give hint the heads of the two officers. It is not easy to
st e how impartial men could well doubt that his testimony
was true."
Netwithstanding this strong evidence, Dr. Wolf 's
mission was resolved on. Our readers know the result.
fhe erticle en Luther is well timed, and furnishes a
complete answer to the calumnies heaped by the
Puit-yit,s oil that great Reformer. The subjoined ex,
tracts show that only such a daring character could
have had any effect in pulling down the profligacy and
abominations which then prevailed throughout the
Catholic Church :
'• On the whole, few names have such claims on the grati-
tude of mankind as that of Luther. Even Rome owes him
thanks; for caliatever ameliorations have taken place in her
system, have been owing far more to him than to herself. If
there are any two facts which history establishes, it is the
desperate condition of the Church at the time Luther ap-
peared, and the vanity of all hopes of a self-sought and volun-
tary reformation. On the former we need not dwell—for.
none now deny it ; it appears not only on every page of con-
temporary history, but in all the forms—especially the more
popular—of medieval literature. Never was a remark more
just than that of Mr. Hallam, that the greater part of the
literature of the middle ages may be considered as artillery
levelled against the clergy.
" Of the second great fact—the hopelessness of any effective
internal reform—history leaves us in as little doubt. The
heart itself was the chief seat of disease; reformation must
have commenced where corruption was most inveterate: nor,
until certain great principles should be reclaimed, and the
Bible and its truths restored—a result necessarily fatal to a
system which was founded on their perversion, and which
was safe only in their suppression—could any reformation be
either radical or permanent.
"Adrian, the successor of the refined and luxurious Leo,
gave infinite disgust by the severity of his manners, and his
sincere desire to see some sort of reformation; and his long
catalogue of abuses which he wished to be corrected, deli-
vered in at the diet of Nuremburg (and inconsistently ac-
companied with loud calls for the violent suppression of the
Reformation), was never forgiven by his own adherents.-
' The Church,' said he, 'stands in need of a reformation, but.
we must take one step at a time.' Luther sarcastically re-,
marked—' The Pope advises that a few centuries should be
permitted to intervene between the first and second step.'
" Hence we may see the comparative futility of the small time-
serving expedients of Erasmus. His satire, sitter as it was,.
was not directed against the heart of the system—he waged-
war only with the friars. Not that we undervalue his la-
bour: as a pioneer he was invaluable. Nor, if we except
Luther, Melancthon, and Zwingle, do we know any man
who really effected so much for the cause of the Reformation.
The labours of Luther and himself terminated in one result;
the streams, however different,flowed at last in one channel--.

Rhodarius ingens anme prarapido fluit
Ararque dubitans quo suos fluctus agat.'
" Such are our deliberate views of the character, labours,
and triumphs of Luther. We have been the more copious in
our account of them, that we may do what iu us lies to ho-
nour his memory, at a period when there is a large party of
degenerate I- rotestants, who, not content with denying the
unspeakable benefits which he conferred upon mankind, have
not hesitated to speak of him with contempt and contumely,
and in some cases to question the honesty of his motives and
the sincerity of his religion!"