The Sun. — London, England, 1832-12-29 00:00:00

(Lined and discarded by the honest. Bad men might be enabled through such an engine to carry on evil schemes with more facility ; the poor would be left by it completely in the lurch, and in the mean time a disgraceful and withering brand would be affixed to the noblest of our political, institutions.— Times. On no one subject has there been such aul approach to unanimity during the late election, as the necessity for affording to the electors the weans of voting without control. The ques tion having been once settled who ought to be vested with the trust of the elective franchise, it is quite clear that the persons so vested, and no others, should possess it. Had it been intended that all the population should participate in electing Members, then all would have received the power of electing, and we should have had what is called universal suffrage. Had it been intended, on the other hand, that the votes should be in the ratio of property—i. e. that the owner of land let at 5001. a year should possess ten votes, and the owner of 5,000/. a year fifty votes—then the suffrage would have been con fined to property. The claim of the mob in some of the manufacturing towns to compel the voters to return, not the candidates whom they consider the fittest to represent the people, but the candi dates most acceptable to the mob, amounts to universal suffrage. On the other hand, the claim of the great proprietors to control the tenantry on their estates, amounts, pro tanto, to a transferrence of the suffrage to the mere possessors of property. It is to be pre sumed, that it was intended the franchise should he exercised exclusively by those to whom it was given by the Legislature, and no other, and that the voters should be protected in the discharge of their duty from all violence either on the part of the many or the few. On prin ciple, then, the voters are entitled to protection ; and the only question is as to the mode in whict, that protection shall be afforded. There is no blinking the fact, that the exercise of a restricted suffrage must always be attended with difficulty. No wan is ford of admitting his incapacity to exercise the franchise, and therefore there must always he a disposition on the part of those di reedy excluded to re-possess themselves of the franchise indirectly, by contracting the actual voters. On the other hand, in a country it , which property is unequally distributed, it will always be difficult to confine the possessors of property to the share allotted to them personally. In a country like the United States of America, in which all are more or less possessed of some property, and few possessed of much, there can he little reason for excluding any from the suf frage, and the attempt of individuals to control the suffrages of others, being unsupported by the influence of property, would be resented as an insult. In America, therefore, it can be of little roneequence. as far as the result is concerned. whether men vote openly or secretly. In England. on the other hand, where there is great inequality and great dependence,there will alwaysbe great dif ficulty, with all the protection that can be afforded, of preventing the result being affected by the control of the many or the few. It has beet) often said, you cannot prevent landlords from soliciting votes, and few persons in dependent circumstances will have the hardihood to refuse to promise their votes, and then you will have a struggle between the wish of the voter to returr the person whom he thinks best qualified, and the wish not to violate the engagement intr which he has entered, however improper. Adam Smith, we remember, in his Theory of Moral Sentiments," in mentioning a case put by the Casuists, whether a man, from whom a robber exacts a pledge, that in consideration of his li berty he shall pay him a certain sum, is bound to redeem that pledge, justly observes, that though the highwayman is not entitled to exact the pledge, there are few persons of honour who would feel easy under the thought of having violated it. Still, as it is to be presumed tha' the Legislature intended that they alone tt whom the suffrage is given ought to exercise it, and as any contrary presumption supposes tht Legislature to have been actuated by fraud and insincerity, there can be no question that every thing possible ought to be done to add to the security of voters. If the ballot be a means, the Legislature is bound to give the ballot. Now we think that man must be either very insolent or very stupid who attempts to deny that almost every description of voters is possessed of the strongest conviction that the ballot would add greatly to their protection. We see that in all the clubs where the voters have strong reasons for concealing their votes, secrecy is almost uni formly attained. A man marked out as an unfit member of a club would often resent his exclu sion, and the sense of danger leads to the main tenance of secrecy. There can be no reason for supposing that secrecy , may not be secured at elections of representatives for Parliament. In deed, the arguments on this subject only amount to this—that some persons would themselve' cease to avail themselves of the protection of se crecy. Very true ; and if they do cease to avail themselves of the right, what harm ? This only proves that they do not require the protection. Persons who vote for the exclusion of a can didate for a club do not always conceal their -rote ; but they may, and generally do. An American very probably boasts of his vote. An Indic Proprietor boasts of his vote, and makes it a title to favour. Let them. A man may tell how he voted to his wife or his mistress, or when under the influence of wine. Let him. But all these exceptions are no reason why the man who thinks he can keep a secret from his wife. his mistress, or his companion under wine, or who thinks he can trust them with the secret, and vote at the same time from a tyrannical landlord, or a tyrannical mob, should not be entitled to what he deems a protection. If others do not make the most of the protection, that is no reason why he should be deprived of it. Be cause one man chooses to throw open his breast and expose himself to the influence cf the wea ther in a cold day, that is no reason why ano ther man should not be allowed to have warm clothing. I t is, perhaps, to he regretted, that the question of the ballot in America should have been mixed up with the question of the ballot in England, because the circumstances of England differ so materially from those of Am e . rica. There may be a hundred reasons why the ballot should be inoperative in America, for one in England that it should be so. In England we have seen that the ballot is infinitely more necessary than it is in America. There is always danger, too, of mß'representation and misconcep tion, when the theatre of observation is distant. A correspondent, in another column, who sub scribes himself " Trans-Atlanticus," and who is a most respectable member of a great com mercial house in this country, but born and educated in America, has exposed the misre presentations of Mr. Stanley regarding New York, which he had derived through the Times. He has shorn that the Times has utterly misappre- hctulcd the statement of the New York jour nalist-i-and: that the propriety of voting by ballot has never been agitated in America. We refer 't»ilipimication for a triumphant re kjeatia` - - Z:Otiiitement in the Times, which misled ►':. A :'`-‘titnley. The complaints of the v i o lence ised towards the consciences of voters itkelietions, are loud and general, and must be attended to. Who can for a moment suppose that the electors of Kent, for instance, will patiently submit to such indignities as they have been exposed to at the late election, as de tailed in the Kent Herald of Thursday last : " The result of the election in East Kent is anything but satisfactory to the Reformers. In fluence has triumphed over principle. Nearly all the gentry and the clergy have been united against the cause of the people ; and the addi tional power which the fatal 501. clause gives to them, has overwhelmed the numbers of the really independent electors. On no occasion within our memory has the exercise of undue influence been so unsparingly resorted to. For months have the great landed proprietors and the clergymen, in almost every parish, been inces santly engaged in canvassing the voters. Threats, bribes, and latterly, actual compul sion, have been used to obtain votes for Sir Edward Knatchbull. We could ourselves name A great many individuals who are known to possess liberal opinions in politics, but who have been forced, by the certainty of perse cution, and perhaps ruin, to violate their conscience, and to give their vote at the dictation of the landlord, employer, or creditor. There could not be a sight more humiliating, than that oft& tenantry coming in droves, under the guidance of the wealthy pro- ,rietor or his steward, and ready to throw away hat privilege which ought to be dearest to every honourable and intelligent Englishman. These poor men were led or driven to the hustings, 4atched and guarded to the poll-table by trusty 'gents, and the words Knatchbull,' or Knatch bull and Plumtre,' most thrust into their mouths ! It would be much preferable that the elective right should be vested in the landlord, and the dependent screened from the mockery ind disgrace of its nominal exercise—the public would be more awake to the abuse, were the enactment to stand openly that the proprietor of so many hundred acres should have in his own person as many votes. It amounts to this at present. We some time since made a calcu lation from the average of twenty agricultural Oarishes casually selected, and the result was, iat about a fourth or fifth of the constituency 4f East Kent consisted of electors by right of i'arming occupation. This accounts clearly 4nough for the numbers of Sir Edward Knatch bull. A still greater evil attends it, in ismuch as it will be in the power of the rich landed proprietor to create almost as many electors as he chooses. A remedy must be adopted, or the liberties of England must, ere long, again be prostrate under the feet of the aris tocracy. The ballot and an extension of the suf frage are indispensable. We have never been favourable to the former ; but the numerous instances which have come within our know ledge during the last few weeks, have brought conviction to our minds that it ought to be tried—nothing can be worse than the present system. An alteration, too, must be made in the - county suffrage—the 50/. clause must be counterbalanced by granting the franchise for the county to the occupier of a 101. house not con 'erring the right for a borough—or the corpo iate freemen, being freeholders or renters, should ietain their vote for the county, while voting for the borough on the ancient right. Indeed, the decision of the Revising Barristers on this last point was absurd, as almost annulling the cor porate right which the Legislature professed its desire to preserve intact. At present, in such instances, the corporate right is abolished, or property is unrepresented—either of which is opposed to the spirit and meaning of the Reform Bill." The arguments against ballot, in the Times of yesterday, go to the extension or the limitation of the franchise rather than the protection of the voter. It has always been argued by Reformers—and the Reform Bill was founded on that principle—that the only security for the proper exercise of the right of suffrage was, that the suffrage should be so extensive as to identify the interests of the voters with the interests Of the rest of the community. A more limited iuffrage of necessity opened a door to en- Jeavours to make the elections subservient to ;hose who possessed interests separate from the interests of the rest of the community. Before he passing of the Reform Bill, when it was no torious that the electors were not identified in interest with the community, there might be some reason for claiming that the right should be exercised under the control of publicity. In fact, the dread of public indignation was one of the checks against abuse. But, when it is now Said that the right of suffrage is a trust, it is saying that either the multitude or the few should control those who, in point of intellect and otherwise, have been selected by the Legis lature as the fittest for the franchise. But, that we may not be accused of garbling, we shall lay the whole of our contemporary's ar guments before our readers :—" If the ballot be recommended as a safeguard against the menaces of the powerful towards the weak, by reason of the secrecy in which every voter may envelop himself, it is surely fair to ask some assurance, by argument as well as asseveration, that the ballot will afford that -secrecy and that safeguard against intimidation. Our opinion has been already declared that men's votes under the ballot will be as well known as they now are, or, at least, that their promises will be exacted with as much importunity as ever, and that he who gains anything in the way of security by the ballot must be he does so at the expense of his integrity and good faith. Even granting (what we think most unlikely) the soundness of the protection obtained for timid men through the ballot, is there, let us ask, no countervailing mis, chief in the introduction of a principle of dis guise and mystery into the enjoyment of an Englishman's noblest rights, under which the most honest and high-minded man in the empire cannot shield himself against the suspicion of hav ing exercised those rights unworthily? We admit, and let it never be lost sight of, that influence has been, as we fear it will ever be in some cases, employed for selfish purposes,—that evil stares us in the face. It would be unjust in any one to charge us with a blindness or indif ference to that revolting abuse ; but even, once more, assuming that influence, not merely by threats but by promises, to be fulfilled in the eventreati y cu rta i led—demolished certain candid a t e ' s r et u rn, might be g i t never cou ld b e —by the ballot—assuming this, o ur fear is not unreasonable that the advantage might be dearly bought. The elective franchise is understood by the constitution to be a trust. Is a political trustee to be wholly irresponsible, by shrouding himself in darkness, and laughing to scorn the superintendence of his countrymen and the con trol of public opinion ? If reprehensible things be done in open day, things more shameful may be reckoned on when there are no witnesses to fear, and there is no account to be rendered. Now, the public eye scans the vote of every elector, and takes cognizance of his apparent motives, are there no malignant passions to be indulged by a recourse to the balloting urn ? If it be of importance (and it is inapprec►able) that representatives should always have in their recol lection the views and principles entertained by their constituents, is it not essential to the ac curacy and usefulness of such a recollection, that where differences of sentiment exist, as they must for the most part among electors, the Member of Parliament should be able to satisfy himself and others that such and such opinions are in truth and practice upheld by such and such indi viduals or classes of the constituency, so that the weight of the authority which supports each Mem ber may be correctly assigned to him and estimated by him? There is no doubt that public meetings, so long as they are the fashion in this country, may form (in spite of the ballot) an instrument for ascertaining the degree of sympathy between a Member of Parliament and the several subdivi sions of his constituents. Far be it from us, above all men, to undervalue that great national institution of popular assemblies freely;called to gether to discuss either local interests or ques tions affecting the whole state itself; but is there no probability that with the ballot (provided it did secure secrecy of suffrage, which we do nos credit) might creep in a taste for general isolaf lion and concealment, to the gradual decline, and ultimately the exclusion, of that fearless pu bla city which has been heretofore the distinction -, our English political system,—a substitution, of it were, of midnight, with the mask and stilettoi for the cudgel, the open defiance, and the broad face of day ? On this highly interesting and critical question of the ballot, all that we would now suggest to our countrymen are dispassionate inquiry and patient consideration before it be irrevocably adopted. It is not clear that many of those who clamour for it have much acquain tance with its results and operation elsewhere. In North America it has brought with it neither secrecy nor the abolition of bribes ; nowhere does more rancorous bitterness arise out of the notoriety of each citizen's vote,—nowhere are more impure and flagitious means resorted to for the gaining over a majority. Does the bal lot, then, guard the weak against intimidation ? and if it really possessed that advantage, which, as we have seen, is far from indisputable, might it not be too dearly purchased ?" The public eye must mean the transferrence of the vote to those who are not entitled to it, or it means nothing. In the case of Members of Parliament nho are occasionally in France protected by the ballot, there the voting ought to be always open, because they are exercising a trust, and are re sponsible to the electors. But the principle on which the suffrage is given is quite distinct. The voters are taken to be all the qualified persons in the nation. We must, before concluding, allude to some remarks of a contemporary (the Globe) with respect to the admission of Conservatives into Parliament :—" It appears to us (says our Evening Contemporary) unfair to judge—as some even of the most enlightened Reformers appear to do—of the provisions of the Reform Act, not by the general result of the elections, but by the particular issue of contests in a very few places, which form the exceptions to the ge neral rule. They seem to consider, that if in any one place a Tory has made his way into Parliament, the fact is conclusive that he can only have done so through some defect in the Reform Act, and that no Reform can be com plete which does not exclude from Parliament all who do profess, or have professed, what are now called Conservative prineiples.' This is a species of political intolerance. No man who knows anything of England, can fail to know that what we may still call the Tory party, em braces a very large number of the most opulent and intelligent of the middle, to say nothing of the higher classes, and (nithout entering into the question how much of this party may have been originally brought together and kept together by corrupt motives) no one can doubt that a very large number of 'Tories are just as honest and sincere, and just as 'free from corrupting influ ence—except a superstitious veneration for ex isting forms, and a timid respect for vested rights, and some ill-defined apprehensions of the con sequences of every change—as any other por tion of their fellow-subjects. While such a party exists in such strength as it is known to exist in England, it ought to be represented in Parliament, and must have been represented under any Reform Act not essentially revolu tionary. If the Tories form a sixth or fifth of the whole number of Parliament, it does not appear more than their party is fairly entitled to return. In some places the Tories owe their success probably to changes which the Reform Bill has introduced. This result must be galling to the unsuccessful candidates, and, where those candidates were men highly estimable and re spectable, may be a local misfortune or a local grievance; but no change so extensive as that produced by the Reform Bill could have been introduced without the hazard of some such evils. One of the worst of these cases appears to be that of Mr. Western, the very small majority against whom was made up entirely of the lease-holders and tenants to whom the franchise has been given by the Bill. It is stated, that it' the new voters were subtracted the numbers would stand—for Western, 1,758 ; for Baring, 1,736 ; giving, on the old constituency, a majority of 22 to the steady Reformer who has lost his seat—a result which has been pointed to by the Times with just sorrow and indignation. It is quite clear on this statement, however, that independently, of the new voters, the parties must have been very equally balanced ; and as Mr. Western had against him nine-tenths of the high authorities of the county—magistracy, clergy, and bankers— they might, under the old law, if the contest was foreseen, have prevailed against him by mush room voters, the creation of whom has been checked by the Bill ; and the fact that 486 leaseholders voted for him, against 544 of his opponents, under such extremely adverse cir cumstances, does not speak so ill for the general independence of this class of voters as some of our contemporaries think of them." W e confess we do not see, if the reasoning of our con temporary be admissible, why the Conservatives should be only one-filth or one-sixth. If the Tories are entitled to ca rr y the elect ion in one county, because a majority of the propriet ors , magistrates, and clergy a re Tories, as a ma j or i ty of the landholders, magistrates, and cler g y are Tories in every county in England, we do not see why they might not have r eturned the whole representatives on the sa me principle. Th e question is, whether these personages did exer cise the influence they were fairly entitled to, to obtain their influence in Parliament, or if they controlled and intimidated electors ? We do not see, if the real electors would not have re turned Tories if left to themselves, why they should have been one-fiftieth any more than one fifth. The return for one single county, if by un fair means, is reprehensible in principle. If it was intended that Tories, because they are the great landholders, clergy, and magistrates, should have had the returns, then the franchise should have been confined to them.—Morning Chronicle. The newest topic now upon the political car pet is that of a general disarmament, in the first place, of France, and thence of the other great Powers of the continent. If an event so desira ble were to take place, we should heartily re joice at it ; for most certain it is that Europe wants repose ; but the continued state of war like preparation which has distinguished the two last years has not allowed her to enjoy it. The peace of Europe, ever since the French revolu tion, has been armed like Bellona herself, and slept upon gunpowder. Let us only see a ge neral disarmament, and we will believe that the tranquillity so long promised to Europe has at length been secured. Until then industry and commerce must languish ; because the continu ance of warlike preparations, and the maintenance of a warlike attitude, on the part of the great Powers, belie their peaceable professions, and forbid the existence of that security and confi dence which a settled state of political quietude inspires. But the public will do well to take care that reports of this nature may not be spread at the present time, as they were during the ad ministration of Casimir Perier, merely for the selfish purposes of politicians, or the sordid object of operating upon the funds. When Casimir Perier and his supporters declared, in the Chamber of Deputies, about a year and a half ago, that the great Powers of Europe were about to disarm, and when the Go vernment papers of this country repeated the fabricated tale, with solemn assurances of its truth, we ventured to deny it, and the event proved the correctness of oar opinion ; as it happened that ever since that time the great Powers have been constantly engaged in rais ing fresh levies, and making more extensive pre parations for war. Until the claws of the tiger are pared, and his tusks drawn, who can believe that he will become as gentle as the lamb, and no longer prowl for blood ? The fall of the citadel of Antwerp, at an enormous expense of human life, has not in the least advanced the set tlement of the Belgico-Dutch question, not even if it were followed by the surrender of the other Belgic forts, Lillo and Liefkenshoek. The peace of Europe remains, therefore, as far as that ques tion disturbs it, just as unsettled as before. If France even disarmed, without a concurrent dis armament on the part of the other Powers, we apprehend that very circumstance would invite an invasion of France. The only security the great Powers can give for the preservation of the peace is to throw down their arms, and return to their peace establishments.—Morning Herald. In proportion as the subject of the vote by ballot engages public attention, the leading Whigs and their organs of the Press, forgetting that to their threats and denunciations the sub ject is chiefly indebted for wha'ever importance it has acquired as a question of practical policy. labour, with daily increasing anxiety, to discredit the seductive innovation. The zeal of these oppo nents of a measure which they have contributed to render popular seems to us, as frequently happens in the case of new-born zeal, very far to outrun their discretion. It is not from such teachers that those who have embarked their feelings and wishes in the revolutionary cause will learn to regard with aversion or indifference an in novation with which Lord John Russell menaced the Conservatives of Devonshire, so long as he felt his election to be insecure, and which every organ of the Whig party has been for months exhibiting to the landed aristocracy and gentry of England in terrorenz, lest they should pre sume to employ their influence at the elections in a manner disagreeable to the Administration, as the certain means by which the influence of rank and property should be annihilated altogether. There will be much difficulty, we apprehend, in con vincing any considerable portion of the people of England that the ballot has honest opponents in the men who professed so recently the opinion that it is a specific remedy against a specific evil, when no other ground can he alleged for this change than that the evil which they then imagined likely to operate against them has happened to operate in their favour. There can be no doubt that the Ministers and their organs are right at last, and for the present, with respect to this subject, any more than that they will again be as much in the wrong as they were a few weeks ago, whenever a general election shall take place in circumstances which render the return of a majority of their adherents doubtful. Their recent conversion can only be taken as a confession that the various kinds of sinister influence which the system of secret voting, if it were practicable, is expected to over throw, have in the aggregate been exerted in a manner not calculated to impair their Parliamen tary strength, but to increase it. Of this fact we scarcely needed their confession to convince us. The Whigs, while they have been loudly cla mouring against the landlords of any other parts who employed their influence with their tenantry to electioneering purposes, have never failed to do the same thing in a manner the most impe rious and revolting, and have always been in this respect the most tyrannical at the moment when they were declaiming the most vehemently against tyranny of this description. During the late elections they have been, we know, more than usually urgent in canvassing their tenants. But there is another order of recent creation in the State, the Political Unions, who have exerted an authority little less fatal to individual inde pendence than that of the most arbitrary even of Whig landlords, and this authority has been generally employed in favour of the Ministerial candidates. Both these kinds of sinister influ ence would of course be extinguished by secret voting, could such a thing exist ; and, so far from the Tories dreading the agitation of this subject, they might adopt it as the war-cry of their party, if tsecureo ththem ei majorities ropppaor nanot us at th e e t o every lecti Whigs,on s were an object other, or if they, like could descend to practise the basest arts of po pular delusion. It is plain, however, to every man of ordinary reflection that the ballot could not secure secrecy of voting, unless in the case of the comparatively few individuals who would promise to their landlord, or other influential applicant for their votes, what they do not intend to perform ; nor even in their case unless they were to reinforce this single act of duplicity by an habitual hypocrisy, by lies before and after. lies at market, lies at the alehouse, lies in the own neverfire s d sa n e . c t i I n t is a Tory y s at pa rty their will c h h ec u a r u ch se po th rc e h, To li contrivance having this depraving tendency, and not on account of its effect upon the poll at elections, from which they are much more likely to gain than to lose, that good and honest Tories will always be steadfast opponents of the vote by ballot.—Morning Post. It is stated in The Sun of last evening, in ad dition to the information which we gave some few days ago on the same subject, " that official steps have already been taken towards the intended motion for the reduction of taxes on knowledge." We expected as much, and doubt not that the statement of our evening con temporary is in every respect correct. The Ministry is pledged to the measure, and we are assured that it will be one of the first measures of the ensuing session of Parliament. The Con servatives, who have lost so much by the diffu sion of knowledge, will oppose any measure on t,he subject, however moderate, or however bene ficial to the revenue, which may be proposed ; but the honour of Ministers must be redeemed —the interests of the revenue must be consulted —and as the reduction of the taxes on know ledge will serve both these ends, as well as afford great gratification to the public, we doubt not that the righteous cause will ultimately triumph. Let Lord Althorp be but firm, and victory will be with him.—Morning Advertiser. Now that the elections are almost concluded, speculation is ripe respecting the strength of the different parties who will figure in the new Par liament ; and we observe, that our cotemporaries are trying their hands at a comparative estimate of Ministerial,Radical, and Conservative strength in it. The Sun casts a shrewd and pretty ac curate guess at the latter in stating it at 140. We have reason to believe, however, that this number is somewhat under the mark, and that the Conservative interest will muster about 150 Members. With regard to the Radicals, by which term we mean the abettors of triennial Parlia ments and vote by ballot, there is yet no possi bility of judging of their exact number ; but we have every reason to believe that, instead of thirty or forty, not fewer than eighty at least will be found to decide in favour of these changes. We do not mean by this statement that so many as eighty Members of the House of Commons have pledged themselves to vote for these measures, but: simply that there are as many as eighty who will find it their interest, in conse quence of the strong feelings of their constituents on the subject, to vote for them. To these are to be added the advocates for a repeal of the Union between Great Britain and Ireland, who may be reckoned at somewhere between thirty and forty—thereby forming a minority of popu lar strength of about 120 Members zealous and determined, and who, we have reason to believe, will allow no opportunity to slip, of compelling his Majesty's Ministers to pursue such measures as will prove palatable and benefical to their consti tuents. How the Conservatives will act—whether they will, for their own sakes, become supportersof Ministers—whether they will remain neutral, or whether they will join the Radical interest,remains to be seen ; and it is, in consequence, impossible to calculate the real strength of the Ministry. Their direct supporters are reckoned at about 243 ; but of these there are many who are not in any respect pledged to support them, and even if they were, a combination of parties might be formed for the purpose of carrying certain measures which would completely overthrow them. Their real strength, in fact, at the present mo ment, is in the people and with the people. Let them be but true to them—let them do justice, and love mercy—let them pursue economy and retrenohmont—conciliation at home, and peace abroad—and they have nothing to fear ;—but, on the other hand, if they fail in these matters, what hope is there in their stability ? What salvation is there for them ?—Morn. Advertiser. PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. PARIS, WEDNESDAY, DEC. 26. The news of the surrender of the citadel of Ant werp, wbich was received here on Monday, did not create any great sensation, as it was neither unfote ieen nor unexpected. Since the commencement of the siege it was the universal belief that Chasse's resistance would not be protracted beyond the pre- sent month, even had it been suffered to last so long. The funds opened on Monday about one half per cent. higher than Saturday's closing prices, in consequence of the news from Antwerp; but when it came to be considered at the Bourse that the capitulation of that citadel did not distinctly imply the surrender of the fortresses of Lillo and Ltefkenshoek with it, the prices of the funds took a backward movement, and closed only a few centimes above Saturday's last quotations. The Greek loan has been contracted for by M. Agnado, on terms highly advantageous to the Greek Government. This will surprise no one when it is considered that the Governments of Eng land, France, and Russia, stand security for the loan. The first and last•named Powers long since offered their guarantee; this Government has not yet done so, not having obtained the sanction of the Chambers. It will be applied for as soon as• more pressing matters have been disposed of, and, of course, there is not the smallest reason to fear that it will not he obtained. The loan is contracted for at 91'to 96 per cent., paying an interest of 5 per cent. The terms of payment are not yet known, but it is understood that 40,000,000 francs are to be paid in, and that the remainder will be taken up when the three Powers have given their formal sanction to the loan. In the Monileur Ottoman of the 24th of Novem ber, which you will receive by this conveyance, you will find an article on the subject of the Sultan's quarrel with the Pacha of Egypt, to which I beg leave to direct your attention. I am induced to do so by being assured that it is intended as an expose addressed to the Governments and people of Europe by order of the Sultan him 'elf. Unanswerable as the facts stated in this expose must prove, it is obvious that the Sultan did not stand in need of any such means to proclaim to Europe the justice of his cause. Every Government arid individual conversant with the modern history of Turkey are aware that the Sultan was never guilty of any act of injustice, op pression, or provocation, which could in the re motest manner justify or excuse the attack made on Lim by his Pacha, Mehemet Ali. On the contrary, he had always entertained a high esteem for Mehe met Ali, placed an unlimited confidence in him, heaped favours on him, and had long been looking to the power of his aid and co-operation for the execution of the important plans of reform which he had contemplated since the year 1808, when an unexpected revolution placed him on the throne. There are persons in Europe who are individually, interested in the prosperity and success of the Pacha of Egypt, and who, therefore, are taking great pains to show that his cause is the most deserving of po pularity of the two. In proportion, however, a , the quarrel between the Sultan arid his powerful vassal increases in interest and importance, Europe will naturally wish well to the side whose triumph will best promote the cause of civilization in Turkey. If we were to form an opinion by the experience of he last few years, it would not be too hazardous to say that the whole welfare of the Ottoman empire depends on the Sultan's making a successful resist - mice against his revolted vassal and the other rebels who have joined him, and that the destruction of that empire can hardly fail to be secured by the latter's succeeding in dethroning their Sove reign, or even gaining any decided advantages over him. Mehemet Ali is an ignorant and uneduca to Turk, who has risen from the most obscure an humble station, not through any particular merit o his own, but through chance and those accidental cir cumstances to which every Turk in power owes his elevation. Civilization has done nothing more for him the assist the development of his natural sa gacity in discovering how far the resources of Egypt could be rendered profitable to himself. Sultan Mahmond is the son of a sovereign who has reigned, who has therefore had all the advantages of educa tion that are within the reach of a Turk, and who was the favourite nephew and political pupil of Sultan Selim, by whom he was taught how to raise the Turkish empire from the state of insignificance in which it had been left in consequence of the lapid strides made in civilization by the other king doms of the European world. The exertions that Mahmoud has made, especially of late years, to ren der available the natural and great resources of Turkey, were not and could not be intended for his own individual benefit. Personally, he had, in fact, nothing to gain. It is the prosperity of the whole empire and the good of every one of his subjects that he has undertaken and made the greatest efforts to promote. The obstacles with which he has met and which he has overcome were of the most for midable kind. He was in a fair way of seeing the greatest part of his laudable projects realized before the period of his natural life. If he obtain not a signal triumph over the rebel Pacha, the rebel Pacha will surely obtain a signal triumph over him; for even if through mercy he were suffered to remain on the throne, his power would receive a mortal blow, his faculty of good be completely paralysed, the Janissaries again be set on foot, and all the miseries of the former system which seemed to condemn Turkey to perpetual barbarism must be revived. _ _ day y th l'rint4 ell, I the 1 iITE AD/I dicate Printe Lkdo L.... ai.42 UoNT] 4,ngle's ihe Il rvi.n '1; Independently of these considerations, which 7' sver t ought to induce every real friend to civilization to desire that the Sultan may come off victorious, : as , there are motives not less important if not as vellei generally urgent. Russia is watching the progress '• A of events in Turkey to regulate her own future steps in that part of the world. The triumph of a rebel, Edinh and the dethronement of his rightful Sovereign, ell , would afford a pretext for Russian interference. The H state of complete exhaustion in which the empire would be left, were even the Sultan allowed to re- tainit main on his throne, would leave it at the mercy of i• E i its natural enemy, and hasten that political destruc tion with which it has been threatened for the lag art o 80 years. r, u p It is said in our political circles here, that the Cana matters which remain to be settled in regard to , i " th Belgium have already undergone full discussion be- ; -1( tween the Duke de Broglie and Baron Werther, aac the Prussian Ambassador ; and it is hoped, there- j ar . 1 1 fore, the negotiations which are about to be resumed coati, will not be of any great duration. The affair of Thi Luxemburg may alone require time, as the Duke de Broglie lately declared in the Chamber of Deputies , and that there were some differences relating to it which , a prl had made it advisable to appeal to a third party, el which third party, though not named, is by every he ( one understood to be the Germanic Diet. VIEt A new expedition for Oporto is said to be in pre. t 2:_' paration at Boulogne. It will consist in a rein- 4 1 ;1 forcement for Dan Pedro of about 800 men. The 1, 11 " 0 X French Government have not objected to it. LHe The capitulation of Chasse, published in the . ceo Moniteur, has made a favourable impression at the Bourse today, and the funds have risen in conse quence again about per cent. H 1 CORONER'S INQUEST. Clair ' n ey h; the Yesterday an inquest was held, at the Carvedßed , Lion, Islington-green, on view of the body of Ar thur Forster, described as a remarkably fine young man, who.was found drowned in the Regent's Ca nal on Monday. The body was owned only about an hour before the Jury assembled. J. Cappell, a dustman, stated that he was stand ing on a bridge of the Regent's Canal, at the back of Maiden-lane, on Monday morning, when he saw the body of a man floating on the water. Witness, Id with assistance, got the body on shore, and con veyed it to the church. Lucy Herbert, a pretty-looking young woman, de posed that she resided at 42, Easton -street, Clerken well. She had seen the body of the deceased this mottling in the church-vaults, and recognised it as that of Arthur Forster, a young man, not quite 19 years of age, a coach.lace manufacturer. He re sided with his mother, a widow, and a little boy, his brother, in the same house with witness, who was his cousin. He was not ill, but was occasionally low-spirited. He left his_home for the last time on last Sunday three weeks, when he and witness went to Tottenham, to spend the day at the house of a relation. He left Tottenham for the avowed per" pose of returning home, witness remaining at that place. He left about half-past eight o'clock. He then seemed very low-spirited ; and in the course of the day he had gone out, as he said, to take a walk for half an hour, but was gone more than three hours. He had no dispute with any one on that day, that witness knew of. Witness never saw him alive after he left Tottenham at half-past eight. He had 2s. when he left Tottenham, and he calle d akut half-past ten the same evening at his mother's house, and left the 2s. and his hat and gloves there- He did not remain there more than ten minutes, and during that time said not a word either to his mother or to any one else. He was particularly quiet i n his demeanour, and witness never knew him to have angry words with any one. She had never heard of his threatening to destroy himself, or that he had any particular loss or disappointment. Had never heard of his having formed an attachment to any female. He was of a solitary disposition, and fre quently walked out alone for hours together after nightfall. He was rather of a religious turn of mind. Mrs. Susan Malcolm stated that she resided in the same house with the deceased and his mother. She had often observed latterly that he was dull, and much depressed in spirits. When he returned from Tottenham, on Sunday three weeks, he was melancholy, as usual, and was asked to join a poll which witness had, but he said he was tired, and would go to bed. He left the house in a few notes afterwards. Witness knew that he had forme an attachment to a young woman, which she also knew was not reciprocal. Mr. Gardner, residing in the same street, said he spirits, s of had s a k e e d n h t e o e t t h t e rih d e e t c e e d as i e t d eh u i p e o fi t y t h te is Town his inability to support hiemother as he could wish. Wi tness , questioned him as to his attachment to " Lucy (at this moment Miss Herbert, the witness, left the jury -room), and his reply was, he hoped she wilt" get a better supporter than he could hope t t he' The Jury returned a verdict—" That de ceased drowned himself while in a state of tempo rary derangement." Yield M to I Whop .1.14a1t rouse Rnt :Or pa to 27th 1 / CO !th e c ldY, t A h'n E tli vi, iT .k-r ] ;It ' ll pu L3 't t h ott Lo e of r, ki 4, 4 h er ' c e t io anr . '41 1 ) 1 1 ) N)t ' rr `tlah, at th t t); o t ~,, N SENSE AND SENSIBILITY.—This admired Novel, by Miss JANE AUSTEN (whose productions he* been always referred to as models of good taste and ele gance of style) will be published in the next volume °' the Standard Novels and Romances, printed and embeb lished similarly to the new edition of Scott's Noveler " Emma," " Northanger Abbey," "Man.fi:ld P erk, " Persuasion," &•., will al o shortly make their appear ance in this popular series of modern wo r ks of fictior±_......,4 Isllfria On the 27th inst. at the Vicarage, Burrs St. the wife of the Rey. Arthur H a nb ur y, o f a son . dy On the 24th inst. at Dartmouth Hous e , Blackheath, Barbara Newdigate, of a son. Mary, Suffbll4 MARRIED. On the 26th inst. at Paris, at the Ambassador's Chapel, A„r o j brose Poynter, F,sq., of Poet's corner, Westminster, to 0.. Forster. DIED. Cot On the 28th inst after a lingering illness, the Marquis o f nyngham, K.P. in Hamilton-place. On the 26th in Devonshire-street, Portland-place, I jeu t.- General John Gordon, of the Hon. East India Company's I n r vice, eldeSt son of the Hon. John Gordon, and grandson of Jo, third Earl of Aboyne. On the 24th inst. at Brighton, Captain Edward Wethe red, of the 3d Regiment of Dragoon Guards, son of Thomas Wetheren , Esq , of Great Marlow. • On the 27th inst. at Richmond, Frances, the wife of Edwar d Bellasis, Esq., of Guilford-street, London, aged 22. .a.of PRINTED ♦ND PUBLISHED BY MU R D 0 YOUNG, AT THU SUE OFFICE, 112, STRAND LONDJI4,