The Sun.
London, England, 1842-12-07 00:00:00

SYRIA.

BEYROUT, Nov. 7.—Syria is at length delivered of
MUstapha Pacha, who has left the afThirs in a state of
confusion which it is impossible adequately to describe.
When he arrived in Syria he found the hatred which
the Druses and the .Maronites reciprocally entertained
for each other, so great as to have extinguished all
animosity towards the Turks. The result of his ten
months' mission has been to create such a degree of
animosity against the Turks as has almost extin-
guished the reciprocal hatred which the Druaes and
Marmites entertained of each other.

Mustapha Paella's venality was unbounded, a cata-
logue of his acts under this head would fatigue your
readers ; I may, however, instance the distribution of
the Iltizams of the Jerusalem and Jaffa district, for
NN hick he received douceurs to the amount of 1,200
purses, or between 5,000/. and 6,0001. sterling. Da-
mascus was too valualle a district to be omitted. Not
Ling ago he sent Infant Bey, his muhardar, or seal-
keeper, to Ahmed Pacha to saythat hewould shut his eyes
to his speculations if he would allow him to go " snacks '
in ,the "exploitation " of the Pachalic. The late
Defterdar General of Syria, an unusually honest
Turk, opposed this arrangement, but without success.
Ahmed Pacha went to Beyrout on the pretext of
taking leave of MustaVba Pacha, but in reality to
settle their private , (alas ! too public) accounts. When
Mr. Wood, our able Consul at Damascus, a short
time ago found out that a fraud had been practised on
the Sultan in the Gaza district, to the amount of
30,000/. sterling, Mustapha Pacha engaged to quash
all inquiry on coolly receiving from Sheikh Said Mus-
tapha of Gaza 17 capital horses.

Ibrahim Pacha conquered Syria by the sword, and
he ruled it by the sword, without an attempt to
conciliate public opinion; his despotism was charac-
terised by blunt honesty and straightforward un-
bending rigour. The morality of the Turkish Go-
vernment is far inferior.

The Druses continue to intercept the 14,h road
between. Beyrout and Damascus. A llussiLn and
la Prussian nobleman, who came from Cmstantfnople,
I applied a few days ago for an escort to ao to Damas-
cu., but were plainly told by the local authorities of
Beyrout that by taking Turkish soldiers the c:anger
lof travelling would be increased ; indeed, on Monday,
the 31st ult., 40 of the best irregular cavalry attempted
to force their way through, but got back -in a miser-
able plight to Beyrout—those who were not killed
were plundered. Ahmed Pacha arrived at Damascus
from Beyrout on the 4th inst., having first spread the
report that he intended to go by way of St. Jean
d'Acre, and then, taking the opposite direction ar-
rived at Damascus, after snaking a considerable detour
to the northward, escorted by 400 men.
There are two ways of governing Syria—
either by brute force, or by honesty and common
sense ; but with the Syrians, semi-barbarous as they
are, fraudulent expedients, concocted by a com-
mander-in-chief who never encounters ally fire or
smoke but that of his own chibouque, can only suc-
ceed for a brief period.
It will cost the Turks much trouble to get out of
the scrape this time. The Druses are too much com-
mitted to recede, nor have they any confidence in the
offers of pardon made by the Government.
Sheik Hussein Suleyman and Harind-el-Begh,
the. Mutuali chiefs of the mountain district between
Sidon and Acre, received a friendly invitation to go
to Beyrout, but they are too old birds to be caugh
by chaff.
T H

E FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE
.VERSAILLES RAILROAD.
(From Goliqnani's Messenrrer.)
The important trial arising out of the awful railway
accident on the Bth of May last, and which, in fact, is
a grand inquest taken on the causes and consequence:
of this lamentable event, commenced on the 22d ult.,
and was conttuued de die in diem, with the lapse only
of Saturday, Sunday, and Mtindity last, to enable the
Judges of the Correctional Tribunal to take a judicial
view •of the spot on which it happened, until Saturday
last. The Chambre de Conseil having, after mature
consideration of the previous examinations, declared
that there were no grounds for including the Council
of Administration of the Company of the Paris and
Versailles Railroad (Left Bank) in the prosecution,
decided that M. Jules Bourgeois, Administratenr De-
legue ; M. Bordet, Provisional Director; M. llenri,
Chief of the Paris Station; M. Bricogne, Civil En-
gideer, Directeur du Materiel; 111. Lamoninare,
Chief of the Station at Versailles ; and M. Milhau.
Inspector of the Service, should be arraigned
as guilty of homicide through imprudence.
The act of accusation, or indictment, gave a full
and minute recapitulation of all the disastrous
circumstances attending the accident, enumerat-
ing the persons who became its victims, either by loss
of life or sexeretecteutilationee.Of -these, six. were found
dead in a condition to be immediately recognised.
Ten were afterwards identified upon more minute exa-
mination ; and twenty-one, though so entirely burnt
and disfigured as not to be recognised, were afterwards
identified by certain objects belonging to them found
among the ashes and fragments, and from their having
been known to be among the passengers; and two
more bodies were found dead, but in such a state as
to defy recognition. In addition to these thirty-nine
sufferers, fourteen more died subsequently, either in
direrent hospitals, or at their own houses, making the
total less of life amount to fifty-three. To these must
be added one more, whose death was made known to
the Court during the trial. The number mutilated
either by the flames or by the crushed fragments of
the carriages amounted to 109. In this last category,
we must notice the dreadful case of a M. Apiau,
who appeared on the trial as a party claiming
damages. This gentleman and his two sons were
together in the train. The eldest son was burnt to
death, and irrecognisable ; M. Apiau was so severely
injured in his lower limbs that he has had the kit
leg amputated, and his younger son was so fright-
fully disfigured in the face, that it has lost all traces
of the human countenance, and, although only
eighteen years of age, he can never he seen in
society. Ile also made a most painfully affecting
appeal to the Tribunal for the restoration of the bode
of his eldest son, which, lie, said, the Company had
buried obscurely at Meudon, and would not tell him
where it was. In fact, the distresses of this sufferer
seemed to have almost shaken his reason. The
Come sympathised with the heart-stricken man,
and said all in its power to console him,
but, of course, could not in- any way meet this
part of his complaint, as his son was unquestionably
among those whom it was impossible to identify. The
points of accusation insisted upon by the prosecution
were—the insufficiency of the number of engines for
the service of the road, so as not to allow time enough
between their respective journeys to be properly in-
sleeted and repaired, when requiring repair; the un-
fitness of the four-wheel engine, the Matthew Mur-
ray; .the want of judgment and prudence in placing
it before the Eclair, a six-wheel engine of much greater
force ; and lastly, the imprudence of running the train
with too rent velocity, whereby the accident was
caused. To enter upon the evidence and arguments
in support and in defence of these several charges,
would lead us far beyond our limits, nor, indeed, would
they be interesting to the much greater portion of
our readers, as they consisted, in part, of technical
details and conflicting opinions of scientific men.
On the question of the fitness of the Matthew Murray,
the testimony was so various and so contradictory,
that we conceive it is extremely difficult for any one,
who has no actual acquaintance with that engine
itself, to come to any conclusion. It certainly ap-
peared from the evidence that its peculiarities required
a skilful conductor, but it was declared that, with such
conductor, it was an effective machine. On the sub-
ject of the opinion of George, who guided it on the
Bth of May, and who was among those who lost their
lives on that day, who also is acknowledged by every
one to have been both skilful and zealous in the ser-
vice, the evidence was very contradictory. Some
witnesses deposed that he had frequently denounced
it as incompetent and dangerous, and others de-
claring that it was a favourite with him, and that he
took great pride and pleasure in guiding it. The
charge of want of skill and judgment in placing the
weaker engine before the more powerful one was
rebutted. This was proved by men of experience to
be the universal practice, and the suggestion that the
strongest engine must over-run the weakest was
shown to be false and unfounded, as the swiftness
did not depend upon power of traction, and further
that if the stronger machine, by drawing with greater
force, took the weight of the train, the weaker, by
being thus relieved would go the faster, and thus
keep out of the way of the other, and could not be
overtaken by it. The last charge, that of the train
being urged to an inordinate degree of velocity, was
was like the others a subject of strongly conflicting
opieion. Many witnesses, as well from among the
persons who were passengers as from others who ob-
served it from the road-side when passing Sevres
and -Meudon immediately before the accident, tes-
tified that the train was then moving with a degree
of rapidity that excited in their mind the most
serious alarms. Opposing witnesses, however, affirmed
that the train was not going at any greater
rate than it usually ran when going direct, that is to
say, without having to stop at the intermediate sta-
tions, as was the case in the present instance; and
others deposed that a much greater velocity is con-
stantly kept up on many railroads without increase of
danger. Upon the whole of time evidence it should
seem that this deplorable disaster was occasioned by
the breaking of the axle-tree of the hind wheels of the
Matthew Murray, but the cause of this breakage
could not be accounted for, and most certainly did not
arise from her being over-run by the Eclair. What
the impressions made on the minds of the Judges were
remains yet to be known ; for on the conclusion of
the trial on Saturday, the President announced that
the Court would take time till Saturday next to con-
sider its judgment.

ERRATUM.—In the article yebterday on the charge
of the Bishop of Llandaff for " lands" read " laws."

LADY AUGUSTA SOMERSET —The best practical re-
futation of the atrocious falsehood so industriously
circulated, and so eagerly caught up by the Liberal
press, derogatory to the fair fame of this amiable and
accomplished member of the ducal house of
Beaufort, is to be found in the fact that Badminton
Hall is at this moment the scene of a splendid reunion
of the nobility .of the realm, in which his Royal High-
ness the Duke of Cambridge and Prince George of
Cambridge take part. —Where and how the diabolical
rumour could have originated we are at a loss to con-
ceive, but we sincerely trust that it is now put at rest
for ever.— Cheltenham Journal.

EFFECTS OF TEE INCOME-TAX.—At a recent
meeting of the Board of Guardians, the guardian
for Lostock, who is not of the school of Dioovnes,
appeared in an exceedingly ill humour, its ebulli-
tions continually bubbling into all the business
of the Board. The Chairman, an Income-tax
Commissioner, at length said —"I think, Mr.
Shaw must have been before the Income-tax Commis-
Why ?" said Mr. Shaw.—" Because," re-
plied the Chairman, you are so cross." The Chair-
man often speaks of the beauties of the new Poor-
law ; to put people out of temper appears to be one of
the beauties of the Income-tax.—Bolton Free Press.
TER WEATHER.— During the whole of yesterday
the metropolis was enveloped in a dense fog, render-
ing it necessary to use artificial light in all the City
offices and warehouses. This sudden change from
the fine open weather prevalent during the lest few
days, may be considered the harbinger of winter.
The temperature throughout the day was much lower
than on Monday, and the market waggons from the
suburban districts were covered with hoar frost.