The Sun.
London, England, 1842-02-08 00:00:00

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LONDON:
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1842.

CHINA AND INDIA.

We have received by the Overland Mail highly im-
portant news from China and India, a detailed account
of which will be found in another part of The Sun.
On the Ist of November, Chusan, though strongly
defended, was re-occupied by the British troops.
Chinghae was taken in gallant style on the 10th
of the same month. This city which is situ-
ated' on the left bank of the Ningpo River,
strongly fortified The walls were nearly three miles
in circumference, and presented to the invading force
works which the ablest Chinese engineers pronounced
to be impregnable ; yet in two hours this city, occupied
by 3,000 Chinese soldiers, was captured by a mere
handful of British troops. On the 13th, Ningpo
was taken without the loss of a man, the Chinese
being so terrified as to offer no resistance. Sir HENRY
POTTINGER, her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, imme-
diately proceeded to' establish a Provisional Govern-
ment in Chusan ; intimating to British subjects in
China, that under no circumstances would Chinghae
and its dependencies be restored to China, until the
whole of the demands of England were not only com-
plied with, but carried into full effect.
But while the news from China is most cheering,
we lament to state that the accounts from Cabool
are deeply distressing. In an insurrection of the
Afghans, supposed to be intended to over-
throw the throne of Shah SOOJAH, the Gal-
lant ,Officers Sir ALEXANDER BURNES, his bro-
ther, a Lieutenant, Captain SwAYNE, Captain
ROIHNSON, Lieutenant. ROBAN, Ensign SALISBURY,
Lieutenant WHEELER, Ensign GORDON, Lieutenant
RoTiismr, Captain CODRINGTON, Captain SPOTTIS-
WOOVE, and Major THAIN, were all barbarously,
masKvred, The Shah SOOJAII-00L-11OOLX has in-
dee&heen a dear bargain to us. The details of this
insitrreetitn are painfully interesting.

An interesting debate took place last night in
the House of Commons on Mr. WALLACE'S mo-
tion 'to recur to the old practice of the Members
making remarks on presenting petitions. The
motion was opposed by the body of the Conser-
vatives, headed by Sir R. PEEL and Sir R.
isaus, and by some Liberals, of Whom Mr. Bno-
THERTON spoke against the motion, which was
lost by a large majority.
The argument which seemed to have most
weight with the House Nvs the great number
of petitions. Sir ROBERT PEEL said 17,000, on an
average, were presented every year, which made it
impossible for the Rouse to attend to them all.
But that argument, duly considered, goes further
than Sir R. PEEL would like to see it carried; it
goes to convict the Commons of inefficiency ; and
we are rather surprised that Mr. O'CONNELL did
not seize it, and state that it would justify a
repeal of the Union. The House of Commons
exists mainly to redress the grievances of the
people. On that principle the Commons always
insist on reading some Bill before they will take
her MAJEavv's Speech into consideration. They
do that to preserve their right to discuss and re.
dress grievances before they grant supplies..
But the statement of last night is a confession
that the House cannot find tune to attend to the
grievances of the people, much less to discuss and
redress them. It has become of little use, there-
fore, by its own confession ; and is unable now to
attain the object for which it was andestablished,
which
which still constitutes its principal duty.
The union with Scotland, and the union.
with Ireland, added a third to the population,
and probably to the petitions, but it did not add
one-third to the hours which the House sits, or
facilitate the public business in the like propor-
tion. As these two unions added to the number
of Persons whose &tin-drives TYlt only
was aPPointed to redress, so the increase of po-

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114 NatlitWei
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pulation, and the increased interest taken in pub- •
lie affairs; quadrupled the claims for attention
and redress that were made on the House. No
efforts, however, were systematically made on the
part of the House to meet the altered state ofci:
cumstances. Now and then a little tinkering was
done to the matter, but nothing effectual; and at
.
length the House had no alternative but to take
refuge in its present plan of actually shoving the
petitions of the people aside, refusing a hearing
to those who presented them, and so stifling, if it
could,the co mplaints of the people. The present ac-
knoWledged inefficiency of the House is obviously
one of those cases which abound in our country,
in which circumstances have completely changed,
while institutions have remained the same, or
nearly the same, till their unfitness to answer
the end originally proposed has become so glaring
that it can escape no man's notice.
We must add, also, that while the House of
Ciknmons has become as it were inefficient, from
the increase in the number of the people who
make demands on it, and their increase of intel-
ligence, it has also departed from the ancient
simplicity of its institution, and usurped functions
which were not originally assigned to it. To
grant supplies, and obtain the redress of griev-
ances, were in the first instance its only duties.
Gradually and successively it extended its
power, till it has engrossed to itself; by
making laws on every conceivable subject, a con-
' trol over all the functions of government. It has
in fact, very much extended those functions. A
single despot would never dream of meddling.
with the manufacture of glass and snuff, of cot-
tons and soap, or of making laws for all the
every-day occupations of the people; but 658
gentlemen, consisting of persons acquainted
with the ordinary business and affairs of life,
some of them retired traders, some of them still
actively engaged in business, and all having an
(especial eye to their own profit, naturally and
necessarily interfere with an immense variety of
occupations, of which an ordinary despot has no
comprehension. Hence it has happened, that the
House of Commons has not only usurped a con-
trol over all the functions of government known
to our ancestors; it has so extended those func-
tions, that they embrace most of the business
of life.

As it extended the sphere of its operations, it
gave rise to a greater number of complaints and
demands. The people not only petition it to
undo what it has done, but to do what it has
never yet undertaken. They not only ask it to re-
peal its own Corn-laws, but to extend the
Church, and civilise Aflica. The sources, there-
fore, of an increase in the number of petitions
have been numerous ; but there could be no cor-
responding
.increase in the power of the House
of Commons to attend to them.

If, indeed, it had divided itself into Commit-
tees, or Bureaux, like the French Chamber,
and appointed one to receive Irish, another
Scotch, and another English petitions; one to re-
ceive petitions concerning trade, another peti-
tions concerning the Church or religion, and
another to receive petitions concerning educa-
tion, the House of Commons would have adapted
itself to its new .circumstances, and been enabled
to perform its duties to the people.
As the House departed from its proper func-
tions, and extended the sphere of its duties, and
as society increased without any correspond-
ing increase in the facilities for transacting busi-
ness, so we cannot be surprised that the Rouse
has become unfit to perform the part of its du-
ties now in question. Sir R. PEEL, naturally
enough for him, but not in accordance, as we
think, with public opinion, said the public de-
sired that the House of Commons should pro-
ceed rather to practical measures than occupy
its time with debates on petitions. We think

that the House of Commons cannot occupy itself'
with anything of so Much importance to the people,
as their petitions. At least it is then listening to their
wishes and prayers. • When it is engaged in
practical measures it may be enacting a Coer-
cion Act, suspending the Habeas Corpus, filch-
ing
away the rights of the electors by a new
system of registration, or passing a Corn-law to
starve them out of existence. Or, it may be,
wrangling, as Mr. WALLACE observed, for four
nights successively on some party question. Its
duty is, not to make laws against the people, but
to redress their grievances. As it cannot well
know what these are unless it listen to their
prayers, it is bound to receive their petitions
with respect, and allow the Members to discuss
them. It is still in the power of Members, as
Mr. ROEBUCK remarked, to raise a debate.on
the question that the petition do lie on the
table, and if the majority prefer making laws
about what'they do not comprehend to attend-
ing to petitions, we hope that a sturdy minority,
though defeated on a division, will endeavour to.
make the House do its duty to the people.

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