The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-12 00:00:00

THE S UN, LONDON,

forward, only to watch the dawn of disappointment.
A week and a month—and nearly a year passed away
—to borrow the phraseology of the song, and still no
sign of the liberation. Disheartened by this lapse of
time the Noble Marquis seems at last, from the cor-
respondence published elsewhere in our impres-
sion of this evening, to have given utterance to
his anxiety in a letter addressed to the Psuccn
PRESIDENT on the 3d of May—a letter.of solemn and
fervent reminder. In it, he exclaimed to LOUIS
NAPOLEON—" Away with all chimeras of difficulties,
delicacies, and consequences—your decrees are final.
Announce " Le PRESIDENT le veut," and ADD-EL-
KADER'S prison doors fly open !" He- called to the
recollection of the PRINCE the manner in which be
had avowed his wish sooner or later to place the EMIR
in freedom, because he believed that the honour of
France was involved in the question of his liberation
—when the PRESIDENT had written—"Je veux, tot
ou tard, mettre r Emir en liberte parceque je crois que
l'honneur de la France y est engagee." Lord Lox-
DONDERRT closed his appeal of the 3d of May, as if
in corroboration of the justice of the sentiment, by
observing that ABIP.EL•KADER once released from
incarceration " the unsullied honour of France, and
the desire of its powerful ruler (the chosen of eight
millions) will be accomplished." Upwards of three
months elapse after the transmission of this letter to
Paris, without one line, however brief, of acknow-
ledgment ! Under these circumstances it is, that the
last communication in the correspondence, under date
the 9th of this present August, is forwarded to the
Elysee by the Marquis of LONDONDERRY. It is
natural, of course, that the Noble Lord should have
penned this letter under feelings of more than
ordinary irritation. Whether that irritation was
aingfil
ea
xnicbel.e
siSleonmeeet
mhi
un bbeatrteer
justified or not the public can decide at
bteheann
et
xh
pi se
eprofound
year
by Lord LONDONDERRY and assuredly the mere
chagrin of recognising the blunder of such pleasant
anticipations is calculated to engender a sense of in-
dignation.

Reviewing the whole of
this ABDEL•KADER cor-
respondence,
it is impossible not to appreciate the
generosity of the motive actuating the Mar-
rs of LONDONDERRY in his spontaneous
interposition in favour of the forlorn and
otherwise almost forgotten prisoner of the
Chateau D'Amboise. Equally manifest, at the
same time, we conceive it; to be that the position of
the Prince LOUIS NAPOLEON has up to this moment
been one of enormous anxiety and of equally enormous
responsibility. Perhaps he may be able to say now,
as he did in the September of 1851, " Lorsgue
je ne fait pas tout le bien que je desire, c' est
que JB NE LE PEUT PAS"—and be able to
say this, too, with truth in the August of 1852.
But at least he need not have left it to mere conjec-
ture. Beyond this he might have insisted that as yet
his promise in the letter of September 13, 1851, has
not been actually broken—because his words were,
as already quoted, " Neanmoins lorsque 1852 SERA
PASSE la chose sera plus facile." At any rate some.
thing more than silence, we conceive, was due to the
generosity and humanity of the Marquis of LON-
DONDERRY.

The lawyers are likely to have a golden harvest
out of the new Parliament. It is alleged that bribery
has never before been carried to such an extent.
Each party accuses its opponent of " bribery and cor-
ruption." Eminent counsel are reported to be at a
premium, on account of the demand for their services
before Election Committees and Parliamentary Com-
missions. Solicitors entering into the long vacation
do not wholly abandon " business"—no, they carry a
bribery case with them, by way of nest egg, out of
which some legal lusus natures is to emanate, in the
fulness of time, its genus distinguishable by the length
of its bill ! In short, Members of Parliament may
expect to have long sittings in election inquiries,
while a splendid vista of briefs, retainers, fees, and
refreshers, opens to gladden the eyes and fill the bags
and purses of gentlemen learned in the law.
Corrupt practices at elections have long been corn-
plained of. The Legislature have been continually
trying to prevent and punish them by Acts of Parlia-
ment. The more certain and ready mode of preven-
tion—namely, Tote by Ballot—has not been counte-
nanced by Parliament. Every remedy, except the
right one, has been tried, and the result has been
precisely what might have been anticipated—the
continuance, if not the actual increase, of that "bri-
bery and corruption," which is a disgrace to the
country and the age.

The Act (15 and 16 Vict., cap. 57), which was
passed during the last session, " to provide for more
effectual inquiry into the existence of corrupt prac-
tices at elections for Members to serve in Parliament,"
provides the machinery for ascertaining where, by
whom, and under what circumstances, bribery and
corruption may have been committed at any election.
On a joint Address from both Houses of Parliament,
the Crown may appoint Commissioners of inquiry,
who shall investigate the matter in the most searching
manner, and report thereon to the QUEEN for Parlia-
ment. The costs of such inquiry (that is, the ex-
penses of the Commissioners, witnesses, &c.) are to
be paid by the Treasury. The witnesses are to give
their testimony on oatb, and—to insure full disclo
sure from the participators in the alleged offence or
offences—persons implicated in corrupt practices,
who may be examined and make a full disclosure, are
to be indemnified by a certificate from the Commis-

sioners.

Mr. MORGAN, the bribery bricklayer at Derby,
who had been sent thither (he says) h FAIL,
the Mr.
the barber of Shrewsbury, and correspondent of
" W. B." of the Carlton Club, had heard
something of this indemnification clause, no
doubt, for on his apprehension he told the
police sergeant that he meant "to tell the truth"—
that is, to save himself by "splitting" on his em-
ployers. So said virtuous MoacaN, chicken-hearted
in the moment of detection ; but that he will be forth-
coming to " make a full disclosure" before the Com-
missioners, or an Election Committee, is what we
certainly do not calculate upon. There is every pro-
spect, to use a familiar phrase, that " he will make
blinseff scarce," and his bail (the two Shrewsbury
tJetr vendors, one of :them, we are told, a relation of
NeitherL)
'Faaa wdioll
Wprobably have their forfeited recogni-
zsnces made good
sbfooyFrshtchaovemebrmoauistnty of the Carlton Club.
any Commission
arabnce
close
roherish the shadow of a hope that
FRAIL himselfec
Twhilel
Carlton appearbce flourbe,
hteeei.s,
like Louis XL
and councillor from
which
, have chosen their friend
lA:ter-ons profession, and the
incadrri ()uvula LE D
country, of ---e'f
any
thvin, like his liallic proto-
type, will submit to
from his native eemnfpolrocyeedrsexdiele_
he is "the life,
pride, and ornament"
mend such a sacrifice at his hands, and
compensate him fur it. suitably
Under the new system, the delay and expense of a
-- suppose,
reserved for wholesale cases, such-
will be Commission need not be incurred : that, we
as the St.
Albans' where the borough, on
conviction, was
def.nh
A set of very searching questions
has been drawn up,
which may be put to petitioners
s and sitting Member raaffair,ish e .by Election Committees of the
Homo of Comnions. Nay, even if there be no peti.
tion by a candidate, if there have been no contest (as
any voter may petition), the same questions may be
put to the sitting Member. These questions are
most searching, and may be put
upon oath. They
go into the whole matter of direct and indirect agency
—agreements as to expenses—as to amounts disbursed,
under the name of expenses—as to further amounts
demanded, and for what—as to the sitting Member's
belief, knowledge, or expectation of further
sums to
be demanded or paid—as to the particular of every
separate item of payment—as to promises made by
or for the sitting Member—as to exercise of influence
to obtain any place or favour from the Government for
lily elector, or any of his relations—as to applica-
tions to exercise such i .nfluene
—as to a promise, by
himself or others, to pay mon ecvson account of the elec-
dun after the trial of the petition was over. Here is
one of the questions
. • "Do you believe, suppose,
souosnpeeoctted that
with
any one, and who, con-
jecture, or
any person c gave
or promised any
money or other valuable thing to
the b orongh with a view
to secure your election ?" This is close
Thea pthaertierserawahinoinhgave questioning,
.
queries are equally stringent.
acted for the sitting Member,
in any way, at an election may
be severally exa-
mined in the absence of the • •n g Member who is
liable to be examined touching
,
sitting
then
their disclosures
before he and they can communicate. Public-house

and attorneys' bills may likewise be sifted, and the
whole evidence given upon oath.

Yet, inquisitive and searching as the inquiry must
be under this new system, bribery is said to have
been greater at the recent elections than at any for-
mer time. There is an anomaly in this very
curious, but demanding a closer examination than we
can give it now. _ _

Having mentioned Mr. FRAIL in the course of these
remarks—when " bribery and corruption" are on
the Lapis, one naturally thinks of the tonsorial cor-
respondent of "W. B."—we may add that the report
runs that in the preliminary investigation into the
practices at the Derby election a number of letters
from "W. B." to FRAIL have turned up, seriously
involving both of the "polite letter writers."
We can scarcely think that the cunning
of the Salopian barber could have per-
mitted such documents to pass out of his bands.
Though he
was so silly as to permit one letter from
his Carlton Club correspondent to be found in the
pocket of the "safe and good man" MORGAN, the
bricklayer, we must be content, we fear, to await
with due patience the Parliamentary investigation
which must take place, particularly as,
"W. B." has not denied that he wrote to FRAIL
touching the Derby election. to this hour,

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

Intelligence by the French mail had not reached
us up to three o'clock, but we learn the following
items by telegraph, dated from Paris yesterday, 5 Fx-
The Moniteur announces that negotiations con-
tinue, and with a prospect of success, fora treaty of
commerce between Belgium and France.
Decrees in the Moniteur announce several promo-
tions in the Legion of Honour, and decorations of the
new military medal, as also several nominations of
Mayors.
The Socialist candidat?, M. SAIN, has been elected
to the Municipal Council at St. Etienne, and M.
JULES FAVRE to Lyons and St. Etienne.
The screw-ship of the line the Austerlitz, 100 guns,
will be launched at Cherbourg on the 15th instant, as
also the frigate La Resolue.
Government securities were firmer at the Bourse
to-day than yesterday.
Railway shares are lower. The Four-and-a-Half
per Cents. opened at 104 f. 50c., and closed at 104 f.
70c. for the end of the month.
The Three per Cents. closed at 74f. 85c. ; Orleans
Railway Shares, 1,362 f. 50c. ; the New Austrian
Loan, 95.
BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, AUG' 11.
Grand Junction of France, 45/8—Luxembourg, 4%
and Bordeaux, 18—Paris and Lyons,
Namur and Liege, 6%—Northern of France, 25 4E—Orleans
33—Paris and Strasbourg, 245,8 Sam bre and Meuse, 7
Western of France, 9%. 187/8—Paris and Rouen,