The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-06 00:00:00

lii,it _Sulu

LONDON:
SATURDAY MORNING, AUGUST 6, 1842.

In the House of Commons last night Mr. D'IsuAELI
inquired of Sir R. PEEL whether the statement were
authi•ntic that the British troops had been ordered- to
withriraw from Affghanistau ? Sir R. PEEL replied that
.ho understood despatches had been received, but he had
not :yet had an opportunity of reading them. It was un-
der:stood about the House that Sir ROBERT is to give
sonse further information on the subject to-day, in con-
stria .nce of an interrogatory put by Lord PALMERSTON.
The ,evening before Sir ROBERT admitted, in answer to
Mr. I eISRAEL; that a narrative of the occurrences in
Affght :nistan, such as that described in the Indian
Journa's. had been received in England ; but it was of
mirth a a ature that it could not be produced without a
breach 01' confidence. The fact of that report having
arrived, and the statement of its nature, are calculated
to confirm Ithe terrible suspicions excited by the articles
of the Boozy Times. Before Parliament separates,
the fullest information on this momentous subject, which
deeply concer.ls the honour and the power of 'England,
ought to be laisi before it.

We cannot allow Mr. T. BUNCOMBE'S motion for the

release of the C.4artist lecturer, Mr. AlAsoN, and the

seven working mon. now confined in Stafford gaol, to pass
without expressing our hearty approbation of his great

though unsuccessful exertions. The motion was for an

Address to her MAJESTY to liberate these men. It did
mot in terms call in question the decision of the Court
which passed sentence on them, but it was founded on
an: opinion that the constable had in the first instance
oyevstepped his duty, and that the Magistrates had only
sanex ioned his arbitrary injustice. It was to be ex-
pected., therefore, that Sir JAMES GRAnAm, who had
strenuously advocated the propriety of a constable being
allowod to decide concerning the sedition of language
which he might by possibility not comprehend, would
resist Xt.. DUNCOMBE'S motion. He did so ; and
baying an unscrupulous majority to back him, it was
negatived. The Minister decided that there should be
no addretts to the Ministers, usurping the name and
functions of the Sovereign, to pardon Mr. MASON. The
source of mercy, which is also the source of power, was
dried by the dictum of Sir J. GRAHAM, to justify a med.
dling constable.

We congratulate the Whigs on having returned, on
this occ.lsion, to their ancient constitutional doctrines ;
and we congratulate their Journals on their revived zeal
for poprt,lar rights; but we cannot forget, nor allow the
public to. forget, that in 1839 and 1840 they did not act
on the principles they now espouse. We had then to
censure them as severely as they now censure the Tories.
Had they ,then listened to our advice, and been as ra-
tional in atfice as they are in Opposition—had they
acted on their present principles, in the cases of
STI:PLIENS, IVDOUALL, LOVETT, COLLINS, and the Bir-
mingham meeting, they would not have been so much
hR ted as they now are by the bulk of the working popu-
hi ion. The change in the Ministry, which we, in coin-
nn with others, objected to, has had the extraordinarily
be neficial effect of converting the Tories to free traders,
&I id the Melbourne Whigs into advocates of popular
ights and liberties.

No person treats his friends more scurvily than Sir
• PEEL. lie has silently but certainly compelled the
D uke of RICHMOND to swallow his own threat. The
po Cr squires, who at the election rode, and run, and
bit tstered in every county and at every town where they
him I any influence, to return the friends of Sir R. PEEL,
hap re been obliged to accept grinding Bills, importation
of ~.cattle, reduced duties on potatoes and meat, &c., and
at tm Iry other things which they mortally hate, and have
se lan •ely dared to murmur their discontent. The deceived
p; mons, too, who set such a splendid dining and speaking
ex 4 anp.le, who in their zeal for this world's favour
sea rued careless of the next, and risked their salvation to
pro mote the success of their party, are not to be allowed,
afte r all they have done and suffered, to filch from the
peg ple as large an amount as possible for Church-rates
witi tout even rendering an account of the money they
calk 'et. They are quite indignant that they were not
take a into the councils of the Cabinet before it assented
to S it J. EASTROPE'S motion, and they are still more
India Dant at the calmness with which the Premier be-
Ito) a s the bellowings of their impotent rage. To have
ass el nod to the " motion of a low Radical, a decided enemy
to - tho Church," is complete treason to the party; and we
hal re the authority of the Post for saying that
the High-Church supporters of SIR R. PEEL are ex-
tre oev; dissatisfied at the cavalier treatment they have
ree eive,i from the Right llonourable Gentleman.
lE 6e spites the Herald by obstinately following out Lord
lERSTON'fi foreign policy, though that journal says ,
the I V oble Lord ought to bo impeached ; and Thursday
he eves. a dared to blow up the great Times itself, Sir
FRANC IS BURDETT, and the lightning inventor, whom
they h tve taken under their express patronage. ore
after at. tother Sir R. PEEL slaps his friends and sup-
porters in the face, and they say " it is very dist s
ressibnagli
but whit - :t is the use of making a noise about it, we
only get • laughed at as ninnies ; we shall give an ed..
ition triumph to those hated free traders and Radical
nti.t ;tin rchmen. There is no use in taking any notice

of it To bringback the Whig's would do us no good;
and therefore, though we are very much disappointed and
dissatisfied, yet still, as we cannot make better of it, we
thing it needless to weaken the Government by finding
fault." So, with the meekness of lambs, the overbearing
squires and the arrogant priesthood receive the chastise-
ment of the Premier.

Our readers may perhaps remember that about two
years ago we had to combat the extravagant assertions
of the Times in relation to the inventions of a Captain
WARNER. That journal held up this intrepid adventurer
as one of the greatest pyrotechnical geniuses that had
ever existed. He had invented, that journal assured us,
an explosive compound that would blow up the rock of
Gibraltar. At the distance of six miles he could knock
down the strongest walls, and scatter a line-of-battle
ship into fragments as easily as a child dashes its toys to
pieces. This wonderful genius was known as the Light-
ning Inventor, and it was a kindred genius made the
Thunderer take him under his especial patronage and
protection.

For not allowing this paragon of a destroyer to pro-
secute his experiments at the public expense—for not
giving him a great sum of money, and so pre;enting him
from carrying off his invention to Russia or France, to
the permanent injury and dishonour of Great Rritain,
Lord MELBOURNE and the Earl of MINTO were spoken
of by the Times as the.enemies of their country. They
were said to be sacrificing its honour, and risking its
safety, by not patronising and rewarding the lightning
inventor. We are not sure that our Contemporary did
not conditionally threaten those Noblemen with im-
peachment for their studied neglect of Captain WARNER;
but we are quite sure that the Times praised his inven-
tions to the skies, and denounced the Whig Ministers
most vehemently, for not profiting by them, and reward-
ing the inventor.

On Thursday that pattern of political honour and con-
sistency, who is every way worthy of the Times, Sir F.
BURDETT, brought Mr. WARNER'S inventions under the
notice of the House, and moved for a Select Committee,
to inquire into his negotiations with the Government.
Sir HOWARD DOUGLAS, who had been appointed to
examine the subject immediately stated that every op-
portunity had been given to Mr. WARNER to prove his
assertions ; he had been invited, coaxed even, to perform
his wonderful feats, and receive in a full purse the great
reward of a nation's gratitude, but he had not made his
appearance. Hulks and forts were prepared, but
not Mr. WARNER. His familiars, probably, got sulky and
would not come to his call, or the atmosphere was damp,
and his electrical machine would not work ; at all events
Mr. WARNER did not achieve the mighty things the
Times promised in his name. Mr. BROTHERTON men-
tioned on Thursday that the immaculate patriot had pre-
viously. sold his invention to DON PEDRO ; Sir G.
COCRBURN deprived him of his rank, by declaring that
he never was in tha navy; and Sir ROBERT PEEL, by
taking the same course as Lord MELBOURNE, completely
vindicated the Noble Lord's conduct, and testified to
the accuracy of his judgment. By one shell he blew
Captain WARNER, Sir FRANCIS BURDETT, and the
Times out of the water, and left these battered and
bruised personages to console one another.
It was very spiteful in Sir ROBERT to defend Lord
MELBOURNE, and to disparage the Times. It was
still more spiteful to resist his dear friend, and
send Sir FRANCIS BURDETT into the lobby with only a
single joint in his tail. The Hon. Baronet's motion was sup-
ported by only 2 votes, and 72 were given against it.
We 'apprehend that will extinguish for ever Captain, or
Mr. WARNER'S claims on the national gratitude. There
is yet one place of refuge for him. We recommend him
to carry his scheme to the Chinese; they will at once ap-
preciate an invention which will destroy the barbarians'
ships in a manner so agreeable to their caution. They
are fond of boasting, and the lightning inventor would
most likely be there elevated to the rank of a deity.

It used to be the boast of English gentlemen, that
they were to be believed on their honour, while other
men could scarcely be credited on their oath. Hence, in
a certain House, whatever a Member asserts, the other
Members, for the honour of the whole body, are bound to
admit it to be true. But this conventional respect for
each other's word seems not to extend beyond Parlia-
ment, and ever since Lord STANLEY stated that his
friend Sir R. PEEL was a capital hand at dressing up a
statement for the House, a suspicion has grown up
in the public mind that all the things as-
serted by those honourable men may perchance
not be true. So we see that Sir JAMES Gum:rases asser-
tions in the case of Mr. M‘Dou.w., at Deptford, that
there had been a riot in the chapel, where the seats
were broken up, that the meeting at the Broadway was
a continuation of the meeting at the chapel, are ques-
tioned by Mr. WADE, one of the trustees of the chapel,
who seems not to share the conventional respect which
Members of the House of Commons have for each
other's assertions. Mr. WADE affirms that there
was an interruption at the chapel, but he denies
that the building was in any way damaged, and
he proves that both Sir R. PEEL and Sir J. GRAJIAM
have dressed up the Deptford case for the House of
Commons and the Tory public. If we are not to believe
the assertion of Members of Parliament, of what value
or utility can the laws be of which are founded
on those assertions? The Parliament has already sunk
very low, but to what depth it will reach if the public
generally discredit the assertions of Members, no man
can tell. If Sir ROBERT PEEL, Sir JAMES GRAHAM,
&c., have no love for truth, the sooner they assume it,
and convince the world, if they can, that they are in
earnest, the better for them and for the world.

A careful perusal of all the intelligence brought by the
overland mail relative to the war in Affghanistan is not
calculated to impress an attentive and generally well-
informed reader with a conviction of our ultimate
triumphs in that country. Large as is the force already
there, it appears that we can effect little or nothing
from want of camels, gun-carriages, waggons, and a ne-
cessary supply of provisions and water. General POL-
LOCK'S force is suffering severely from climate, want of
baggage, and deficiency of food. For a whole month
10,000 men had been at Jellalabad doing nothing. The
expenditure of beasts of burden in the Affghan war has
been enormous. General TroLLocK had but 3,500 camels
at Jellalabad, and had written to the Government of
India that without 7,000 more, he could not advance
upon the city of Caubul. Since the commencement of
the war, 68,000 camels had been seat to Caubul, so that
. .

the stock in India was almost exhausted. The heavy
guns, too, had all been left behind, as the Passes could
only be forced by the lightest pieces of artillery. The
Calcutta Star—a highly rvspectable journal—states posi-
tively that Lord ELLENBOROUGH has already resolved
to seize the first decisive victory over the Affghans to
evacuate the country altogether. The Editor asserts

that he himself saw an order from the Aeljutant-
General's Office, dated "May 14, 1842," beginning
Instructions having been issued for the with-
drawal within the British provinces of the troops
serving west of the Indus, it has become necessary to
make arrangements for the comforts of the different corps
during their march across the Punjaub." The Bombay
Times applauds this policy, 1.4 s wise, just, and necessary.
The war there has already cost us upwards of seven mil-

.ons sterling, and cannot be maintained at a less sum

than three millions annually, of which two millions in
coined silver must be drawn annually from the Indian
Treasury, never to return to it. " Our armies," says
that Journal, " are dispirited by mishap, and the ofli.
cers ruined by their own expenses, and beyond measure
sick of the war. We have no baggage cattle to carry
our artillery or commissariat, nor is it possible, at any
price, to procure them. The winter sets in beyond the
mountains early in November, and the snows are not
entirely cleared away before April arrives ; so
that as we have no fortified post, camp, or
cantonment—and shrunk before from the cost of their
construction at Caubul—any expedition which could
have been undertaken would have been for a few months
only ; the enemy would have eluded us among the
mountains, and our army would have to fall back pell •
mell in October, leaving us to renew the war again next
year at an expense of twenty millions sterling. We
therefore consider the order for the abandonment of

the country, said to have been issued by the Governor-
General, as the most wise and manly one that could
have been resolved upon." When to these considerations
are added the alleged treachery of Sir W. M`NAGHTsmr,
which led to his murder, and the fearful massacre that
followed, it would seem that we cannot too soon wash
our' hands of that country. The Journal of General
ELPftiNsTosE, now in the hands of the British Govern-
ment, " shows," says the Bombay Times, " that Sir W.
M'NACRTEN lost his life in consequence of having laid
an ambush to get into his hands the Caubul chiefs as-
sembled
to meet him in conference ! Two regiments
were in readiness to have rushed out upon'thorn, secured
them, and carried them to the camp. The intended
treachery was discovered in Airne, by the Affghans, who
accordingly prepared a counterplot to carry the Envoy
and his attendants into Caubul. Sir W. APNAcirrEN
would not suffer himself to be placed on horseback—a
violent altercation ensued—blows were exchanged, when
the Sirdar seized a pistol, and shot him on the spot.',
Another account says :

" For several days before the last fatal confereftoo, the
Envoy exhibited a discomposure and irritability of
temper altogether foreign to his nature. He became
silent at the same time, and uncommunicative ; and
although something of unusual moment at emed to be
harassing him, he avoided all intercourse or consultation
with his usual friends and advisers. On directing a couple
of. regiments with guns to be got ready for emergent ser-
vice, Gen. Elphinstone cautioned him as to the steps which

appeared to be in contemplation—the peculiar nature of
which was kept strictly concealed. The Envoy said snap-
pishly that he need not concern himself about the matter,
but have the troops ready when required—the plot
thickened well, and would evolve itself apace. The
plot, Tour Excellency !' said the Commander-in-Chief,
Plot is an ominous word in the mouth of an English-
man It proved too true. It was an ill-omene'd word
for Caubul ! These things, which now begin to trans-
pire in fragments, will by and bye be brought to light
entire. A war commenced in injustice, appears to have
been conducted throughout in the midst of delusi7us,
and terminated in one of the saddest attempts at fraud
and faithlessness for which a Briton ever yet required to
blush."

As everything connected with this mysterious affair
is of the utmost importance, we quote yet a thud frag-

ment:—

" Sir W. M`Naghten appears, for some time before his
demise, to have acted like a fated man ; he revealed his
resolutions to no one, and sought the sympathies of none.
We have already noticed his order for a couple of Re-
giments, with guns, to pounce upon the Chiefs as-
sembled for conference. On his way to join them on
the fatal 23d of December. Captain Mackenzie—who,
like the rest, feared the consequences of an ambush
or counterplot—warned him that he was walking
into a pitfall, and that a trap was laid for him ; he would
listen to nothing—but like one destined to destruction,
rushed upon his fate. The expression used by the party
who placed the head of the Envoy before Ameen Oola
—that Sir William M'Naghten had wished to have the
insurgent chief's head, but had lost his own in going in
quest of it—as reported by the early narrators, now be-
comes intelligible to us, referring., as it doubtless does, to
the foul play intended by the Envoy."
The Bombay Times concludes an interesting article on
the affairs of Affghanistan, as follows :
" We refer our readers to the fragments of the memoir
of General Elphinstone. The last named paper was
sent home by the steamer of the 23d of May. Parliament,
we trust, will insist on its publication. It shows that to the
former Governor-General we owe it that cantonments
were not constructed at Caubul fitting for our army, and
that to his ill-judged parsimony we are indebted for the
outbreak of the Ghilzies of the passes, who revenged
themselves, first on Sir Robert Sale, and afterwards on
the retiring army of General Elphinstone, in consequence
of the tribute which had been undertaken to be
paid them being withdrawn.. The letters of Sir Alexan-
der Burnes to the Government of India, betwixt 1837
and 1839, have been moved for in Parliament. This is
not half enough ; we must have his communications to
the Envoy, from December 1839, to July 1841. We
must also have the whole of the 'papers .of Mr. Ross
Bell, connected with the affairs of Scinde ; and those
of Captain Bean on Shawl affairs and we shall
then be able to judge whether it arose from a
series of untoward and unlooked for accidents, or a
system of unprincipled recklessness and mad mis-
management, that the late fearful crisis in our affairs
was brought about. In addition to this, we demand the
personal examination of Mr. Charles Masson, an indi-
vidual admitted in 1838, by the Supreme Government,
to have more knowledge of these ill-omened countries,
than all the rest of their employes put together. There
are in his possession, certain papers, which will, in all
likelihood, snake their appearance on his examination;
which, conjoined with the other documentS already re-
ferred to, will make the people of England stare !"
We give elsewhere some interesting details of the war
with China, to which we especially invite the attention of
our readers.

TLere is no news of any political interest in the
French Journals. The Chamber of Deputies is en-
gaged with the verification of election returns, aLs ay s
a disagreeable part of the business of the session.

Madrid Journals of the 27th ult. have reached us.
They bring no news of any interest. On the Bourse on
that day two bargains were transacted in the Threes for
a million of reals, at 21k, for sixty days ; and 32 bar-
gains in the Fives for 20,200,000 reals at 30 8-l6:1
for cash, 301, I, 34, at various dates, with the eleven
coupons.

OLD GLORY AGAIN.-Sir Francis Burdett does not
grow wiser as he grows older. Few but must remember
his zealous patronage of St. John Long, that remarkable
medical gelius, whose peculiar lot it was to rub two
female patients to death within the short space of twenty-
four hours, and to enhance the comfort and felicity of a
third, by boring a hole in her back, about the size of a
parish poor-box ;—few, we say, but must remember
Sir Francis's zealous patronage of this individual, and his
startling statement that he had seen a flash of light
rubbed out of one of his patient's heads ! Thursday
the credulous Baronet figured in the House of Commons
as the patron of an invention equally extraordinary with
that of St. John Long ; and called on the House to grant
a Committee to investigate the merits of a projectile,
which could destroy a line-of-battle ship at the
distance of six miles, and with a battery erected
at the Isle of Wight, lay Portsmouth in ashes !
Captain Warner, who is the inventor of.this tremendous
projectile, may really be able to accomplish with it the
wonderful feats just alluded to. We pass no opinion on
the practicability or otherwise of his scheme ; but cannot
help observing that Sir Francis Burdett's patronage of
it, looks exceedingly suspicious, and gives it an appear-
ance of quackery, that possibly may not belong to it.
If Captain Warner—to use Sir Robert Peel's expres-
sion—" be blown out of the water," it will not be so
much by the Premier's opposition to his claims, us by
Old Glory's support of them.