The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-24 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1845.

The Lords did not sit last night.
The Commons met at Twelve o'clock.
On the motion that the report on the Smoke Prohibi-
tion Bill be brought up, several Hon. Members expressed
their disapprobation of the measure, and at length, at
the suggestion of Lord JOHN RUSSELL, the Bill was
withdrawn by Mr. MACKINNON, the Hon. Member
baying previously obtained from Sir J. GRAHAM AR
assurance that the subject should undergo scientific
inquiry.
The Small Debts Bill passed through Committee.
Mr. SPOoNER moved the third reading of the Dud-
deston and Nechells Improvement Bill.
The motion, which was opposed by Mr. Irtmrrz, was
carried on a division, the numbers being—for the Bill,
78; agaiLst it. 52.

Mr. B. DENTsoN moved that the -London and York
Railway Bill should he divided into two Bills.
Mr. Mrt.l.3 secoAcd the motion.
Mr. WARD considered it unfair that the motion .hnuld
be made without notice, and on the suggestion of Mr.
M) THERTON it was postponed until to-morrow (this
day)-
(r. F. FEENCTI rose and, in allusion to what. had
tak,,,v place in rf,!iTence to a •sp,4?eh ~f his deliVered in
that 1-.I.OLISM uu

_,„,0),-. the accuracy of the report of
which, in the Tires, had been impugned, declared that
.\l:v, Si ItWiliftred every word that lh.d appearA in that
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N. 11 '§"

w words from Mr. CLIVE and the CHAN-
e EXCHEQUER, the subject dropped. and
ent into Committee on the County Rates
hole of the clauses in the Bill were agreed

to, and the report was ordered to be received to-mor

row (this day).
Sir R. PEEL then laid on the table certain correspond-
ence respecting the slave trade, which, he said, on a
former occasion, he did not think it his duty to produce.
The adjourned debate on New Zealand was then re.
sumed by Captain Rous, who said he would not enter
into the merits or demerits of the New Zealand Com-
pany, but he would deprive them of their charter, and
give them a fair remuneration for what they had done.
The House was afterwards address©d by Mr. WARD,
Mr. G. PALMER, Sir C. NAPIER, Mr. HAWES, Sir
R. PEEL, and Lord J. RUSSELL, but ultimately the
motion was negatived by a majority of 66, and the
House adjourned at a Quarter past One o'clock.

In reference to our observations yesterday on, the
Danish claims, it will be seen that Mr. HAWES has, as
we anticipated, postponed his motion till early in the
next session. The unjust opposition which these claims
have met with, and the various subterfuges by which
they have been evaded, both by the Whig and Tory Go-
vernments, naturally leads, to the inquiry—what are
the motives for, and who are the men who support this
denial of justice? We believe most persons will admit
that had this been the claim of some influential or courtly
party, the compensation would have long since been
granted, but, as the claimants are merely plain ship-
owners and honest traders, every device which
art and power could suggest have been re-
sorted to in order to deprive the claimants of that re-
dress to which they are so justly entitled. One of
their greatest enemies, who has been pitchforked into the
House of Lords, has feathered his own nest more than
any man who has been in office for the last fifty years,
and through whose negligence the country had to pay
a large sum. Another opponent, who now holds a
similar office to that held by the former, is a person whose
only merit seems to be that of having himself, and his rela-
tives, received, during some years, more of the public
money than would remunerate the losses of all the
claimants ! What makes the case more grievous is, that
what the claimants seek as being due to them is not
the public money, but a restitution of part of the pro-
ceeds of the sale of the Danish property, for the seizure
of which the ships and cargoes of the claimants had been
taken in reprisal. A large portion of these pro-
ceeds had been lodged in the British Treasury,
for the purpose of indemnifying these parties,
at the fountain of which Treasury many jobbers
and drones have since been sucking honey, whilst many
of the poor claimants have been pining in misery. To
illustrate a little more the injuries to which these par-
ties have been subjected, we may mention that an
Honourable Member had the candour to say, the other
day, that though he considered the case of the claimants
to be a very just one, he was, nevertheless, obliged to vote
as the Minister dictated ! The late Mr. MATHEWS used
to relate an anecdote of an American, who, on finding
that he could not in England inflict personal chastise-
ment on his black man, exclaimed, "Call this a free
country ?—can't flog your own nigger !" Had the
said American known anything of the House of Com-
mons, he would have found that there the Premier can
flog his niggers as he pleases, yet this is what is called
the boasted representation of the people ! There are,
however, some noble exceptions, who have acted man-
fully towards the claimants, and of whose unflinching
honour they have cause to be justly proud.
We can only hope that the eyes of the Premier will
be opened, before the next session, to tlk. cruel treat-
ment which these claimants have endured, and accord
to them, though late, that justice for which they have
so long been struggling. In any case, let the claimants
persevere, and they must ultimately succeed !

The debate of Monday night in the House of Lords
on the petition presented by the Duke of RICHMOND
from veteran Officers who bad served in the Peninsular
campaigns, praying their Lordships to interpose in their
behalf, by supporting an address to the Sovereign,
praying that the petitioners might receive from her
MAJESTY some honorary distinction for the services
rendered by them in the Peninsular campaigns, is
well worthy of notice. The Noble Duke certainly
discharged the duty entrusted to him by these
gallant petitioners with much modesty and pro-
priety—observing, happily and truly, that it was un-
❑ecessary for him to enter into any details of those ser-
vices, because their Lordships had on repeated occasions
voted their thanks to the petitioners on account of them.
It was equally unnecessary for him, he said, to dwell on
the vast importance of the results of the Peninsular cam-
paigns—so glorious to the British arms—in the general
pacification of Europe. All that the petitioners asked
for was but a strict act of justice ; and without im-
puting blame to any one, his Grace added,
without for one moment calling
.in question
the propriety of those general and remark-
able distributions of medali and distinctions which
had been made by the Sovereign on account of
the battle of Waterloo, and of the services of the army
in the countries beyond the north-western frontiers of
India, and in China, he did think that the brilliant ser-
vices rendered by the petitioners throughout the pro-
tracted campaigns in Spain ought to be placed on the
same footing in respect of such testimonials or distinc-
tions.

We cannot see how any stronger or more reasonable
case could have been laid for the tardy performance of
what the gallant Duke justly termed a " strict act of
justice." In the whole range of modern European his-
tory, there can be found no parallel to the sustained gal-

lantry, endurance, and success which distinguished the
British army in the six or seven Peninsular campaigns,
commenced in Portugal and concluded in France—a
career of triumphs almost without a cheek—a manifes-
tation of improved organisation in the field, of developed
and augmented resources at home, of general discipline,
moderation and good order in quarters, and in action, that
we believe to be without example. If medals and distinctions
have been granted to officers and men engaged in single
'Actions, however memorable in themselves or momentous
in their consequences, it is to be inferred that those who
have been actively engaged in the leading operations of
several consecutive campaigns, distinguished 17 their
multiplied engagements and sieges, have, to say the least,
a commensurate claim on the consideration of the Croat).
Why the testimonials of that consideration should have
been so long withheld, we protest that we are still un-
able to understand, notwithstanding the speech in which
he Duke of WELLINGTON replied to that of the Duke of
The Noble and Gallant Duke objected that
t was not "regular," nor "according to the practice cf.
heir Lordships," to interfere in a question of this de-
scription. But how can it be said that, in the nature of
thinge, applications of this kind can be so frequent as to
have admitted the establishment of any rule of practice
in dealing with them ? And even, if they had been
more frequent, how can it be denied that every such case
ought to be determined upon its own merits ? What

,ICHMOND.

form of proceeding could be applied, -a priori, to
a state of things, such as that which arose out of the
prodigious variety and extent of the exertions of our

armies in the Peninsula in defeating the mighty combi-
nations of NAPOLEON, conducted by the ablest of his
Generals and the flower of the French armies. Those
campaigns formed, or perfected, the military reputation
Of the most distinguished Generals who, within the last
five-and-thirty years, have exalted the renown of our
arms under the personal auspices of WELLINGTON him-
self. We are left under no difficulty about the prin-
ciples on which the Noble Field-Marshal declined, so
far as his voice or vote could be concerned, to comply
with the prayer of the petitionetls. He said that, in
tB4O, the same gentlemen whose names were appended
to the document in the hands of the Duke of RICHMOND
had made an application to him to lay their case before
the throne ; but that' he (the Duke of WELLINGTON)
had stated to them that these were subjects which
it remained with the Sovereign -and his ad-
visers, and with them alone, to deal with ;
that he had never, either in his military or his
official capacity, assumed the office of interposing in the
manner now prayed, although, when he had been
honoured with the commands, on repeated occasions, of
the Sovereign of this country, and of foreign Sovereigns,
to recommend to them officers for honorary distinction,
he had always promptly done so, in terms (he trusted)
not unsatisfactory to those officers themselves. And he
had, accordingly, recommended to those gentlemen to
make their application to the Sovereign through the
proper authority. He had since instituted careful in -
quiry, but had been wholly unable to trace either the
fact of such application having been made, or any offi-
cial record thereof ; but he believed that a petition,
in all respects similar to this, was some time ago pre•
sented to the House of Commons.
These objections of form, and even the principle of
them, we can fully enter into on the part of the Noble
Duke, whose long connexion with civil office, and whose
experience of courts, have doubtless qualified him to speak
with as muck authority on these as on purely mflitary
matters. But we can neither bring ourselves to take
the same view of the 4liff,reuce which the Gallant.
Duke insisted on as taking the case of these Peninsular
officers out of the same category with the case of those
who achieved-the battle of Waterloo, the triumphant
fcul ol sdee ofm otnhset
roapt
ieo n ratio
of r s
ourin forcesA
of ffg so
oft
in
ni sactpananri ,na aag
nd
gnt
north re
ps
eurcec
ee s
vs
e
the good taste and delicacy
compari-
son in the mouth of the illustrious Marshal who made it.

After remarking on the numerous honours already
awarded to officers who had served in some of the prin-
cipal affairs of the Peninsular campaigns, he denied that
the services of the petitioners in these campaigns gave
them a claim to any general distinctions or honours such
as had been granted in honour of the battle of Waterloo.
and of the campaigns beyond the north-western frontier
of India, and on the shores of China. These latter were
in the nature of signal and decisive victories, which had
re-established the peace of empires, and illustrated the
reputation of our arms and our prowess at moments of
singular exigency. This had been eminently the case
with the battle of Waterloo, and in consideration
of that fact, the Crown had granted medals, not
only to the General commanding and other
officers, but to every individual in our army
who had been present in that great conflict. For
reasons, in the force of which he, the Duke, entirely con-
curred, a Noble Earl (Lord ELLENBOROUGH) had re-
commended a similar course to be adopted with regard
to those armies, composed of our European and our
Sepoy troops, who had retrieved by their distinguished
gallantry in the last actions fought in the Punjaub, the
disasters of Caubul—" the most signal reverses which
had happened to our arms during the last sixty years."
Dismissing these Asiatic triumphs, as less germane to
the matter in hand, we must contend that his Grace took
a somewhat invidious, and, moreover, a somewhat inte-
rested view of the superior claims of Waterloo. He com-
manded on that memorable occasion ; and without in-
tending, for one instant, to diminish by an iota his claims
upon the gratitude of the living generation, and the
admiration of posterity, for the- consummate valour and
abilities displayed by him in that decisive fight, we are
to remember that it was the culminating point of his
fortunes, as well as of his renown : the immediate
fountain of those honours, whose sources have ever since
so lavishly poured out upon him their unstinted bounty.
Who brought him to its margin ? Of those who
commanded under him, the intrepid British soldiery,
who plucked the bloody laurels of Waterloo, but
few among the best and the bravest ; the most
tried, and the most generous of his companions in arms,
were present. The honourable wounds and scars that
the majority of these bore in compulsory retirement, or
on other duty, were still the living attestations of their
heroic achievements at Vimeira, at Albufera, at Ta-
lavera, Salamanca, Badajoz, Vittoria, Orthez, Toulouse,
and a score or two of other immortal fields. Their
honours—such as they were,—their military rank,
whatever the course of their promotion—had been
earned, not as after a campaign of a few weeks deter-
mined in a single pitched battle, but in the course (for
the most part) of long, bard, and hazardous services ;
under manifold privations ; against enormous odds, in
the midst of general engagements, or the devastating
slaughter of storms and sieges. Their arms, their en-
thusiastic attachment to him, their fidelity to his re-
nown, and their country's confidence, bore him to the
crowning triumphs of 1814. A treacherous peace of a
few brief months returned some to the bosoms of their
families, others to the peaceful occupations of half-pay
retirement. A single but terrible battle, crowned by a
sanguinary victory, was fought by us in the follow-
ing year ; and since then war has not subsisted
between her MAJESTY and any of the European Powers.
Now, because these veterans of the Peninsular cam-
paigns of five or six years were not present at the
single battle of Waterloo, they have in all this interval
of thirty years not been deemed worthy of any general
honorary distinctions to record and reward their noble
services. Can anything be more unfair or unreasonable
than such a forgetfulness of the deserts of veteran
merit ? Yes. The distribution of the Waterloo medal
itself. The Duke of RICHMOND assured their Lordships
that it was a well-known fact that one regiment had
received the Waterloo medal which did not even know of
the battle until some time after the victory had been
achieved. We hope and believe that her MAJESTY will
be advised to grant the very reasonable prayer of these
petitioners, which the voice of the whole empire will
cheerfully recommend to her MAJESTY'S gracious con-
sideration, notwithstanding the Marquis of LONDON•
DERRY'S ridiculous, but characteristic protest against
officers of the army addressing themselves on an occa-
sion of this kind, whatever the circumstances that may
have preceded it, to either House of Parliament. It is
happy for the army that Parliament exists for them, as
well as every other class of the QUEEN'S subjects, to
make all constitutional appeals to.

Madrid papers to the lith have arrived. The decree
against the press is the leading theme in all the journals.
The Eco del Comercio addresses a note to its correspondents,
engaging them to use the utmost circumspection in their
communications if they would spare the journal the denunci-
ations of the agents in power. The press, says the Tiempo,
is now as completely under martial law as any town in Cata-
lonia; nevertheless, it promises to submit to the decree.
Several of the editors had Just met, but as those of the
Heraldo, Globo, Tiempo, and Postata had abstained from at-
tending the meeting, no resolution had been come to, and the
Opposition prints declare that they will await the opinion the
Moderado journals may express, before they decide on the
course they shall pursue under the critical circumstances in
which the decree against the press has placed them.
A meeting of the Progressista leaders, which was to have
taken place at the house of the editor of the Clamor Public°,
for the purpose of deciding the course the party should adopt
on the question of the QUEEN'S marriage, had been prevented
by the authorities.
El Herald°, the organ of the Government, has the follow-
ing paragraph, dated Barcelona, July 12 :—" We can assure
you that the Court will leave by sea, on the 17th, for Valen-
cia. We know not what will be afterwards decided upon as
to her MAJESTY'S movements."

The Femento of Barcelona says, " That reports are in cir-
culation that the QUEEN will repair from Valencia to Sara-
gossa, and so to the Basque Provinces ; and it was considered
that the constant movements of troops in those provinces
favoured such a supposition."
A dispatch, received at Barcelona on the 14th, from the
General commanding at Igualada, announces the complete
dispersion of the insurgents near Tora, after an hour's fight-
ing. A second gathering, near Cervera, has been equally
dispersed, and the submission was general.

The Femento, however, of the 15th, mentions that the Cap-
tain-General has marched from Barcelona, at three in the
morning, with half of the 'cavalry of his escort.
The reception at the Palace of Don FRANCIACO DE PAULA,
in honour of the pie day of his son Don HENRY, was ex-
tremely brilliant :
" The company (says a letter) was most numerous. All the
members of the corps diplomatique remaining in this capital were
present. The fête of the Prince, whom several journals of re-
spectability consider as the pretender to the Queen's hand, who has
the best chance of obtaining it, could not fail to be celebrated with
eclat. The Infante Don Francisco, his father, is now most
recherche by the high society of this country."

The Three per Cents. were done on the Madrid Bourse,
on the 17th inst., at 28 3-16 for cash, and 28 11-16 at 60
days. The Five per Cents., 20 13-16 for cash.

We have received the Paris papers of Monday, on the
morning of which day the Chambers were prorogued. The
royal ordinance of prorogation was carried to the Chamber
of Peers by Marshal SouLT, and to the Chamber of Deputies
by M. DuasoN, the Minister of Public Works. M. Guizor
was present in the Chamber of Deputies. The opinion that
the Chambers would be dissolved early in the autumn
seemed to be gaining ground in well-informed quarters. M.
VILLEMAIN, whose health continues to be satisfactory, has
just set out for a tour in Switzerland. The KING and the
Royal Family leave Paris next week for the chateau d'Eu.
The Journal des Debats gives the following account of the
departure of Don C.4.ELOS from Bourges :
" BOURGES, JULY 19.—0 n Thursday morning, at eight o'clock,
the Infante Don Carlos and the Princess de Beira, his consort, left
this town for the waters of Greoulx. On the day before the
Princess had heard in the Archbishop's palace a mass celebrated by
the Archbishop in person. lathe morning a large number of per-
sons belonging to the families habitually received at the Hotel
Panette had assembled in the court-yard of the Archbishop's pa
lace in order to take leave of their Royal Highnesses, who entered
their carriage amidst the warmest demonstrations of regret. The
Princess de Beira seemed deeply affected at this departure. In the
first carrtage the Infante, the Princess, his wife, the Prince of
Asturias, and the Marquis de Villafranca took their seats. MM.
Guilhem, de Villavicanico, Cordona, and a lady of honour occupied
thesecond carriage. The third was that of M. de Tinan, Aide-de-
Camp to the Marshal Minister of War, whe is ordered to accom-
pany the Princes to Greoulx. An escort of twenty cavalry, headed
by a trumpeter and commanded by a captain, followed the Princes
to the limits of the department. On reaching the second relay, the
Prince of Asturias took leave of his relations, who continued their
journey to Lyons. The Prince re-entered Bourges at six in the
afternoon. MM. de Montenegro, Alzan de Toledo, and Garcia
Martin remain with the young Prince."

The following account by an eye-witness of the horrible
affair at Dahra, appears in the Journal de St. Etienne. It
purports to be written by a non-commissioned officer of the
36th Regiment.

The writer, relating the proceedings of the column under
the orders of Colonel PELISSIER up to its arrival at the
mouth of the cavern, where the Arabs had taken refuge,
says:

" Two hours after our departure from the camp we arrived in
front of the grotto or cavern. A company of grenadiers was or-
dered to descend by the hollow way which leads to it, but seemly
had they advanced a few steps when a discharge of musketry
obliged them to fall back. The position was inexpugnable, and as
the place could only be entered man by man, our whole corps would
be destroyed in the attempt. Confident in their entrenchments,
before which the Turks had always been foiled, the Arabs refused
to surrender. Then the Colonel ordered the men to cut wood and
make faggots, which with great pains they succeeded In letting
down near the entrance of the three grottoes. These faggots,
mixed with straw, were drawn away by the Arabs as fast as
they were let down, notwithstanding the firing that was kept up
by men placed inZambush. At last a number of the enemy
being killed, and :the entry being encumbered, the Arabs
were obliged to• renounce their attempt. Fire was then flung
down, and the immense mass of wood was set in flames. The
whole of the 18th was employed in supplying this furnace. Then
was heard inside a frightful tumult of cries, groans, and discharges
of musket shots. It was afterwards ascertained that the Arabs
were deliberating what course to determine on, but at the time it
was not known the most violent had gained the advantage; the
ssit°lll they
fire of the fascines was suspended, and negotiations were re-
sumed. At nine o'clock on the morning of the 18th an Arab
cameback
t o throughin flamesftohrem his u
unfortunate
t uont
tree d
countrymenhis aubmi
mwastot follow the same example, The Arabs oared to ray
setthbar