The Sun. — 1858-05-22 (London, England)

LET HIM ALONE ; WE SHALL HAVE MORE A NON. "  So—with the " private letters" from Calcutta to the ex-President of the Board of Control. Coe-Two—Three—Four—we shall have Mr. WHITESIDE'S bagful at last before we have done with it. Until at length we are constrained to cry out with Prince Her..—" 0 monstrous l'' through sheer force of indignation. The turn that things have actually taken in the matter of Lord OANNING'S Proclamation, and Lord ELLENBOROUGH'S Despatch, and Mr. SMITH'S Private Letter, reminds one of the whimsical chain, of circumstantial evidence brought to bear upon a memorable pistol shot mentioned by Sir Banjamin Backbite, in SHERMAN'S comedy. The pistol-shot which, it will be remembered by all familiar with the Schee/ for Scandal—st ruck against the little bronze bust of SMAKSPERE over the fireplace, grazed out of the window at a right angle, and wounded the postman who was coming t 3 the door with a double letter from Northamptonshire. The analogy is strict, if not actually literal. The thunderbolt hurled through his famous Despatch by Lord ELLENEOROUGH at the braz.m act of Calafiscation resolved upon by the Governor-General, strikes the Proclamation aimed at rather ruinously, and suddenly glancing at a tangent out of the secresy by which it was first enveloped, wounds, it is to be feared dangerously if not mortally, the public reputation of the recipient of a private letter, a double letter, atreble, certain quadruple letter—the Right Hon. Gentleman the Member for Northampton. It may be what billiard players call a " fluke"—but it is a hit, nevertheless. And a hit, too, apparently—judging from tl.e quiet way in which it has been taken—that, however sharp, however much like an affront, appeals to have been quietly "pocketed." The way in which the whole affair has been brought to light, abruptly and quite unexpectedly, is literally as though a card-sharper, in arranging his hand, had maladroitly dropped a secreted ace or knave of trumps ont of his wristband. The table is there.  upon immediately in an uproar. Even the most practised among the honest players are discomposed for the time being. There is a new deal— and the gentleman given to sharp practice has to be shown to the door ! At the next election down there, we shall have an opportunity of judging as to the nice sense of honour prevailing among the electors of Northampton.  Seldom has greater excitement been occasioned in any case than that produced by the late duel in Paris, in which a highly esteemed journalist !las fallen a victim to the malevolent feelings excited amongst certain officers by his jocular, ►nd, we may add, innocent remarks. M. PEN; the editor of Figaro, the French Punch, had ridiculed some of the sons-officiers of the Grand Army. For this he was condemned to death, and a large body of persons joined in the conspiracy to murder. These gallant (!) individuals thought it unbecoming that forty cartels should be delivered on a single day to a single man, one who bad chivalrously avowed his name, and braved the consequences of his innocent jest. There was a total absence of that fair play so dear to English, and, we should hope, to French hearts. The unfortunate victim had offended the class, and his assassination was decided. One man might hare been taken as the representative of the party, and bad as it would have been, some excuse might have been made, but the cowardly ruffians brought forty into the field against one. He was to be insulted by assassin after assassin until, exhausted by fatigue, he would fall an easy victim. The first who came forward was foiled. M. PENE obtained the advantage, and there the matter ought to have terminated. But another rushed forward to fill the vacant place. M. ITIENNE, an appropriate. name, grossly and wantonly insulted the gentleman, fatigued and worn out by his first encounter. He had been the " maitre d'armes," or fencing-master of the regiment. A man thoroughly practised in the use of the deadly weapon, and prepared to turn his skill to the worst use. There was but little chance for the tired civilian. He might as well have been subjected  to the stiletto of an Italian bravo. His chance would have been as good in one case as the other. There is to b 3 an inquiry into the circumstances. We trust that for the honour of the army it will be of a very stringent character. If justice be done M. Hienne and his forty coadjutors will be severely punished. The galleys—or a protracted imprisonment, would be the fitting retribution for the atrocious act in which they have participated.