The Express.
London, England, 1846-11-25 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, NOY. 25.

WE commented yesterday on the resolve of the
French Court to recall Count ST. AULAIRE. Upon an
order to that effect the Count had already acted. His
friends publicly announced in Paris that his Excel-
'. any was to return to London merely to take leave;
et d the preparations at the French embassy were i
ace ordance with it. In fact, the recall of his Ambas-
sack i• was the reply, which Louts PHILIPPE was about
m, dre to Lord PALMERSTON'S notes.
A circular, however, was yesterday sent round to
the pr. Pers. contradicting the circumstance. The
Herald, although the confidential organ of the I
French -rovernment, acknowledges that it bore the
seal of e French embassy, but " being without sig-
mam.e, cot fdered it in the light of an anonymous
paragraph. It then adds—
That althougi it is poesible the decision of the Northern Courts on
the ,übject of Ct bow may have produced a more friendly feeling be-
tween the Coarn, of England and France, and therefore caused the
French Govern:urn (to send over the Covnt St. Aulaire to resume his
furetion4 amisea *dor, it sees no reason to question the truth of the
original statement.
The fact seen is to be, that the French Court has
thought fit to abandon its purpose of immediate
and striking rev. en tee upon Lord PALMERSTON;
to this it has .bc en compelled by the ab-
sorption of Cracow, anti by the terrible effervescence
created thereby throujh every rank of French
society. Without going' the length of supposing,
with the Times, that LOL'IS PHILIPPE sold Cracow
to Austria as the price of .support or tolerance in the
matter of the Spanish marriages, it is indubitable
that the coolness occasioned between France and
England by these marriages, and the mutual re-
proaches on the score' of breach of treaties, have
offered the Eastern powers too tempting an oppor-
tunity for abrogating the Treaty of Vienna with re-
gard to Cracow. So untoward a result of Count
IlaEssus's "sharp practice" at Madrid, could not
but he visited heavily upon M. GUIZOT at the
opening of the Chambers; and the only way of facing
the storm thus rising, was to make every apparent
effort to resist and redeem, in concert with England,
the sacrifice of Cracow. The King of the FRENCH,
therefore, who had already raised his hand to strike a
very offensive blow at the Court and government of En
land, has, in the very act of striking, seen reason to recall
his anger, and actually to alter the gesture of dealing
a blow to that of craving for succour. The uplifted
arm may serve for both expressions ; but it requires
uncommon dexterity to perform such sudden changes
of attitude without being discovered and derided.
As to the independence of Cracow, the French
government cares as much for it, as it does for the
freedom of the Hesperides. But the French nation,
as well as the English, entertain a strong and in-
extinguishable sympathy for Poland, which the
French will allow no minister to trifle with, at least
without a great deal of address, and professions, and
oratory. And one of the obligate measures imposed
on a French government in such instances, is a
drawing close, with more or less sincerity, to the
government of England.
It is really consoling and instructive, as well as a
little amusing, to observe French or English minis-
ters, the moment after they have started on a course
divergent from the alliance of the two countries,
brought back by an opposing whirlwind, which it was
vain to resist, to the necessity of joint movements and
political harmony. What kappened to the English
troy:anima in 1840 and 1811, happens to the French
in 1846. Either may break the yoke of common
alliance, and fly in wild caprice to curvet and career
alone. But a very short time brings back the run-
away steed to its old harness again.
One cannot but be rejoiced at these lessons read
to grave statesmen, as one must be at every circum-
stance which necessitates and redeems the good
understanding between French and English. It
would, however, be much preferable to avoid misun-
derstandings than to remove them, however success-
fully. For it always happens, that some important
power falls a victim to these misunderstandings. In
1840, MEHEMET Au, encouraged by one power,
was absolutely crushed by the other. In 1846,
Spain loses permanently her liberties, and Cracow
its existence, because France and England could not
agree.
Even now, although the menaced slur of ST.
AULAIRE'S recall may be suspended, we do not see
how far M. Ouizor and Lord PALMERSTON can
agree in mending the tear, either in the Treaty of
Utrecht, or in the Treaty of Vienna. Both appear to
be past darning. Lord PALMERSTON cannot unmarry
the Duke of NIONTPENaIER, whilst to tell him to
renounce the right of succession is shutting the
door in the face of all possible reconciliation.
How can M. GUIZOT, with any conceivable quantity
of asseveration, persuade any English minister to
trust him ? The reality of a cordial alliance is impos-
sible ; and even could f}ic semblance be effected, how
is it to impose upon others ? The Anglo-French alliance
was six weeks ago a bar of iron against any audacious
attempts of the despots of Europe. The king of the
FRENCH has wantonly broken that bar for his own
private gratification and interest. Can he now
undertake to hammer together in one day, and
a frail, these for ever severed fragments ? No—
for even if he got them to hold together in appear-
ance, Russia would mock the false affecting of unions.
Alliances may be broken in an hour, but are
not mended in years. For every effect that can be
produced on the three powers of the east, England and
France are two, and being two, the Eastern Powers
make light of their resentment.
We shall enter into no learned examination of the
treaty of Vienna, or its clauses, no more than we did
the other day of the treaty of Utrecht. Treaties, in
our days, arc old women's talk. Diplomatists live

by expounding and note-writing about them, as
lawyers do by refinements of law ; but however we
are bound by the mashes of latter, we may at
least sweep away the nonsense of treaties, which it
seems to have become the common practice of Europe
to break through and to mock. The question is not
one of right. We have abundance of right, in the
absorption of Cracow, to declare war ten times over.
But is there any advantage? We may menace a power
that threatens Constantinople, or Syria, or Portugal,
because we have fleets whose guns could be brought
to bear upon those places, and upon the roads
to them. Diplomacy, with a fleet at its back,
is something ; but a diplomacy of notes and
protocols about what is beyond our reach, is
merely a throwing of sand, not even at one's enemy,
but in the eyes of our own people. Therefore the
less that is said of Cracow, the better—the less that
treaties are invoked, the less shame there is to be en-
dured. Lord PALMERSTON and M. GUIZOT may
make speeches and write notes for Cracow—both
must know that they are mere waste paper—and
really, whether they write their notes separately or
conjointly is a matter of no appreciable importance.
M. GUIZOT and Lord PALMERSTON together
cannot pluck the double eagle from over the,
gates of Cracow. They may protest, indeed, and
go severally through the old humbug of diplo-
macy, until the frothy effervescence of the Parisians
shall have evaporated. That desirable point once
arrived at, and private excuse being made both to
NES.ELRODE and METTERNICH for the more public
impertinence, England and France will aid in laying
an ornamented gravestone over the tomb of the last
relic of Poland.

THE last two sessions of parliament have been re-
markable for the number of private bills, having for
their professed object the sanatory improvement of
large towns. These bills following closely the report
of the Health of Towns Commission, appeared as an
acknowledgment of the evils elicited during that in-
quiry, and indicated a desire on the part of many
towns to apply a more prompt remedy than could be
obtained by a general measure, which had been post-
poned from one session to another to suit political
convenience. The powers demanded in the private
bills were frequently so opposed to the principles upon
which sanatory reform should proceed, that it could
not be doubted that their projectors were more anxious
to perpetuate powers and privileges already existing
than to cede them for the general good. In every
largetown separate and conflicting jurisdictions
had been created in past times for civic improve-
ments, and prevented, by their cumbrous machinery
and distinct interests, that unity of design, and corn-
' plcteness of execution, which alone could preserve
in their proper channel the various conditions affect-
ing the salubrity of large towns. These varied
bodies saw a termination to their existence in the
general measure of the government, and presented
themselves to parliament with a new-born zeal for
public improvement, trusting that the administration
of the new measures might still be left with them.
There were indeed, several honourable exceptions.
Thus Liverpool, which had no less than eight sepa-
rate and distinct authorities, endeavoured with suc-
cess to obtain a consolidation of their conflicting
powers. The evils attending this sudden demand for
local acts were keenly felt by the government, which
endeavoured to obtain some uniformity in legislation,
by certain model clauses framed by the Board of
Trade, the introduction of which, not being impera-
tive, was often omitted.
At last it became so apparent that local bills
were thoroughly cramping. the good effects of any
general measure for public improvement, by creating
private interests, and perpetuating fallacious systems,
that it became absolutely necessary to devise some
means of arresting the progress of private legislation,
until a general act, embracing the objects of the local
measures, could be brought into operation. This was
the origin of Mr. Humes Comi.nittee on Private Bills,
to which we alluded some days since. A short act,
embodying the principal recommendations of the
committee, passed at the close of the last session.
This act provides, that all bills relating to" public
improvement must deposit at the Office of Woods,
and those relating to ports or rivers, at the Office of
the Admiralty, on or before the 30th of the present
month, such notices, plans, and sections, as hitherto
have been deposited in other public offices, according
to the standing orders.
Inspectors are then to be sent down to the localities
referred to in the bills, few the purpose of oxamining
in open court the merits and objections to the pro-
posed measures, and of reporting to government how
tar they are conducive to the public good. This is a
great innovation upon the system of private bills, and
we have drawn attention to it because its provisions
are most important to the supporters of bills intended
to be introduced during the next session. The exciting
topics of last session prevented due attention to this
act, and we are sure our readers interested in private
bills will thank us for reminding them that a com-
pliance with its provisions is necessary before they
can pass through the standing orders. We reserve
for further consideration the singular character of the
act itself, which, in spite of grave faults, is calculated
to produce much good in the local legislation of next
session, and may, by judicious alterations, be made
far more effective than it is at present.

IT is not astonishing that exclusively English
politicians, wearied by the continuance, hopelessness,
and incomprehensibility of Irish distress, should fly
to the resolve of at once getting rid of the difficulty
and stopping the mouth of all complainants by a sweep-
ing poor-law. It is a ready, an authoritative, a final
remedy, cutting the Gordian knot which has baffled
all cunning and patience to unravel. It is taking
all the suffering and contending classes of Irish, rich
and poor, Saxon and Celt, Protestant and Catholic,
and throwing them pell-mell into a circus or arena,
to fight it out and devour each other, with the
charitable prospect of finding the survivors, whoever
they may be, more easy to be dealt with afterwards.
'the great principle, indeed, of every Poor-law,
viz., that the property of the country must feed its
population, is becoming too irrefragable to be denied.
The grand question is, how this is to be done ? Is it
by coercion, confiscation, by a general decree, which
in some regions would prove an impossibility to
execute? Is it by throwing a new element into
the war that has long been waged in Ireland
between rich and poor, arming the one with
greater powers of oppression, the other with
greater claims of support? Or is a wise moderation
to be observed in the avoidance of all extreme and
abstract theories, and that provident statesmanship
exerted, which finds for each class what each most
requires, wisdom and general superintendence, and
. loan of capital for the landlord; permanent sustenance
and a return for laborious industry to the peasant ?
It is said, that a Poor-law will do this. But the
word Poor-law has a hundred significations. Lord
STU \ET DE DECIES, the other day, at Dungarvan,
denounced the conacre system as the true source of
Irish degradation, over-population and want.
And yet what is the Irish conacre system,
but one form and application of the old
English Poor-law. It is a mode of providing for
that part of the population which cannot find wages
for continuous labour. The stock, from which wages
or employment comes, being insufficient, the paupers
are indulged with the outdoor relief of a field of pota-
toes, in addition to some scant fraction of wages.
And as it is calculated that the conacre will suffice
for existence, wages are nominally given, rather
counted, so as to meet the rent. This system, unfor-
tunately, brings most rent to the landlord or occupier,
and most security of subsistence to the labourer. And
the consequence is, that all other systems of hiring labour
are absorbed in, and assimilatedto it, just as the English
labourers paid under the old English poor-law, half
by the farmer, half by the rates, soon superseded
every more independent kind of labour. The Irish
system of eking wages out by conacre, like the Eng-
lish one of eking them from the rates, afforded fresh
incitement and facilities for marriage ; and the con-
acres thus became as surcharged as the parish. Mr.
Ntcnou.s, in his poor-law report, plainly shows that
this conacre dependence, and the small holdings
analogous to it, arc the true sources of Irish
disturbance in fact, it is at the bottom of all
Irish Pl.
The failure of the potato crop has, however, swept
away the system, to the destruction of the peasant's
means of subsistence, of the farmer's hopes and
stock, and of course of the landlord's rent. The
wisdom of the empire is loudly called upon to dis-
cover and apply a remedy. The answer of some, of
Mr. ScROPE, and of the Times, is a poor-law. But
the readiest way of administering a poor-law with
out-door relief, or, which is the same thing, of ob-

viating its pressure, is precisely the extension of the
conacre system.
Farmers in England avoid the pressure of poor-rates
by employing more hands than they otherwise would,
or thanthey can employ profitably. Farmers in Ireland
will keep their labourers from parish or union work,
by giving them conacre, by which they can extract
most work and most rent from them. Such a poor-
law may enforce the feeding of a greater number of
~N.nt paupers and their preservation from actual
beggary and destitution. But it will strengthen and
extend that established semi-pauperized existence,
out of which spring the crime and distress, and the
self-perpetuating poverty of Ireland.
Lord DECIES proposes to replace the conacre and
the poor-law by the cultivation of the waste lands.
It is possible that waste lands may not be found
in every county, the reclamation of which would be
a certain and profitable return for capital. But that
such is the case in the county of Waterford there is no
doubt. And we do think, that when the chief pro-
prietors of a county, with the Lord Lieutenant at
their head, do come forward to recommend such a
plan, it deserves to be considered seriously, and not
sneered at.
Lord DECIES, no doubt, asks too much, when he
expects Government to do every thing, and to turn
farmer of waste lands. The landlord and the farmers,
the capital and the experience of the county, must
apply themselves. But they must have aid, guidance,
ready money, and authority all found them by the
State. Far better would it be to mortgage estates for
enterprises that would employ and locate perma-
nently the surplus population, than raise the same
capital and impose the same debt for improve-
ments, which, after the winter's outlay in wages, will
merely go to swell the rents of the landlord, allowing
the labourer to fall back upon the conacre or the poor-
house.
Another effect of a poor law, carried out to that
extent which Mr. SCROPE desires, would be to fix
more and more to their districts the Irish labouring
population. They are, in ordinary years, in the
habit of wandering forth in summer to places, where
there is the greatest demand and the best market for
labour. A hundred thousand flock yearly to Eng-
land. The reports of the poor-law commissioners
net only communicate the fact of London's being
stocked with labourers from Ireland, but tell the
reason. It is, that the poor-law kept the labouring
Englishman in his parish. And that the Irish,
having no poor-law at home, filled the numbers of
rough-work labourers for the metropolis. But this
year no Irish have emigrated. Since wholesale cha-
rity and employ—in other words, since an ample
poor-law has been in activity, or even in prospect, the
poor Irishman has stayed in his home.
It is a singular fact that there has been not only no
emigration from Ireland this year, but no recruiting.
There is a fatuitous attachment and attraction for
the Irish peasant to the spot, where his superiors meet
to take upon their hands the regulation of his fate
and the supply of his food. There is delight and
interest in anything like public agitation and public
care, that infallibly diverts the Irish peasant even
from the most pressing tasks of supply and primal
want. There was a shoal of fish off Dungarvan on
the day of the riots ; but the fishermen preferred
joining the row and starving, to casting their nets and
filling them and their stomachs with fish.
All these oddities and anomalies of the Irish cha-
meter and condition ought to be taken into account by
those who deem the magic words " poor-law " of itself
sufficient to solve every difficulty and danger. That a
poor-law may eventually be fully established in Ire-
land with good results, is very possible. But there
must be many other preliminary steps. The condi-
tion of the labouring class must be raised. But in
their present irritated, ignorant, and susceptible
state, nothing, that comes in the form of coercion, will
have a permanently beneficial effect. Charity and em-
ploy will attract them, but harsh conditions attached
to these, will irritate and disgust. And a Rockite war
with overseers and guardians, may succeed to the old
Rockite war with landlords and magistrates. Let
landlords or commissioners give the Irish waste lands

to dig and drain on any pecuniary terms, and the
Irish peasant will set himself to the task with
an energy not excelled by the backwoodsman.
Enjoin him the same work as a task set him by
orders from the poor-house, and he will neither work,
nor obey, nor respect law or authority.
Let Mr. SCROPE reflect on the advisability of
introducing a system of poor-law amongst the
aborigines of New Zealand, who are neverthelenc in
industrious race. The obvious difficulties may sug-
gest a few of those likely to be found in Ireland.

The excitement is unabated in Paris. The journals
of all shades on Sunday continue to be engrossed by
the Cracow question, if question that can be called,
which excites but one unmitigated sense of indigna-
tion. In twelve political journals there are no less
than forty-eight leading columns on the Polish spolia-
tion measure.
The more immediate organs of the Cabinet remon-
strate against this international iniquity being per-
mitted by the disunion of' France and England, and
protest against the articles in the ministerial jour-
nals of London, which incriminate the French
Cabinet more than they reproach the spolia-
tors. " This," say they, " is a miserable dispute held
shamefully over the body of a dying state, but when
the English press shall have seen and appreciated the
effect produced in France upon all shades of public
opinion by the affair of Cracow, we are sure that it
will return at once to more just and generous senti-
ments. It will resume those feelings of which, some
time ago, it was so justly proud. It will remember
that, for the honour of the two countries, there is but
one political combination possible, namely, that which
will unite all the free people of Europe. 4
The Epoque adopts the same strain as the Daces,
but is more unmeasured in its vehemence against the
northern courts. La Prow, as usual, disavows all
alliance with England, but is not less sparing than
its semi-official colleagues in its invectives.against the
coup-d'etat which engrosses all minds.
The Constitietionne/ contains an article written
with great ability, and in which it is not difficult to
trace the sentiments if not the language of M. 'l'hiers,
in which the entire question of the treaties of Vienna
is examined ; and although it is affirmed that an
alliance between France and England is not un-
attended with difficulty, it is at the same time
demonstrated to be indispensable to the political
equilibrium of Europe and to the progress of consti-
tutional governments. Admitting the rivalry which
does and must exist between France and England,
it sees nothing in that to forbid a firm and
useful alliance. On many leading questions of
European policy the two nations have common
interests, such for example as the free passage of the
Sound, which commands the navigation of the North,
and that of the Dardanelles, inseparable from the
narigation of the Mediterranean. No rivalry between
France and England could prevent these countries co-
operating at a future day to protect Constantinople
from an act of unprincipled usurpation such as that
now perpetrated against Cracow.
The alliance of France and England, says the writer in
the Constautionnet, is not, therefore, impossible, though it
may have its difficulties. It may be (Florious for the two
countries to struggle together against the encroach-
ments of absolutism, but are there not between France
and England points of contact other than those of
mere interest ? The two nations are united by a com-
munity of principles. Both have assumed, as the basis
of their social condition, that there is in the world a
right altogether different from the so-called divine right of
dynasties. They have set this example to all countries, and
facilitated by it the emancipation of Europe. Each of tht tn
has purchased liberty by two revolutions. We have fol-
lowed
England later, but more rapidly, and have exhibited
in France an abridgment of her history. Is it not a noble
part for these nations to defend with a common accord, the
cause of freedom and civilisation? Generous sentiments have
great influence in both countries ; the nationality of Poland
is certainly not less worthy of exciting elevated souls,
than the emancipation of the negroes. When a nation
perishes under the oppression of a coalition of absolute
kings, nil free and proud peoples must feel stricken to the
heart. If France and England had not been disunited, it is
cortain that their alliince would have paralysed the project
of the absolutist courts. It is evident that the common will
of the two most powerful notions of Europe, supported by
treaties and backed by an unanimous public opinion, would
►ava been invincible. At present it is very difficult to recall
what has been accomplished. The misunderstanding of the
two governments seems to continue, and their prAestation‘
would appear to remain isolated. We wish, nevertheless, that
the two nations, laying aside their quarrels,would unite in an
alliance which, directed to something greut and useful,would
efface all resentment and silence all objections. France must
not forget that every conflict she has with England gives new
chances to counterrevolution; and England, on her put,
should as little forget that each of her ruptures with France
advances Russia one step nearer to Constantinople.
Such language and sentiments proceeding from the
leading organ of a party which has always hitherto
opposed itself to the measures by which the British