The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-10 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—We are now in a position to understand
some of the causes, if not to estimate all the conse-
quences, of the strange revolution in Madagascar
Two independent but perfectly consistent accounts,
the one from an eminent English missionary, the
other from the French Censal at Tananarivo, the
so-called capital of the island, leave no doubt of the
fatal errors whict, cost King Radama II his throne
and his lite. The glimpse which we thus obtain into
Madagascar politics is most curious, and opens te
us many of the contrasts as well as of the analogies
between civilised and semi-barbarous States. The
late King, though not a professed Christian, had
protected and countenanced the Christians during
the persecuting reign of his mother, and his acces-
sion was hailed 86 the triumph of toleration and
liberal policy. The former was, in fact, pro-
claimed, and the golden era of the first Radama
seemed to the missionaries to have come round
again. If they had misgivings, they did not
snake them known, and few people had the least
idea that the regime of this enlightened Prince was,
in fact, an anarchy. Owing to the unhealthiness of
the sea coast in spring, no intelligence has reached
us from Madagascar for the last five months. We
are now told that from the first " his views of the
duties of a ruler were exceedingly defective ;" that,
like Rehoboam, he banished from his councils the
old Hovah chiefs, whose memories probably ex-
tended back to the glorious reign of his father, and
surrounded himself with hot-headed and profligate
young men; that he neglected all measures for
the suppression or punishment of crime, and fre-
quently gave himself up to intoxication and
debauchery. This degeneracy gradually sapped
his popularity, and led to a reaction, headed
not by such persons as generally compose the
revolutionary faction, but by veteran officers, among
whom were the Prime Minister and Commander-in-
Chief. Personal jealousy, antipathy of race, and
sentiments of patriotism were the motives which
combined to animate the leaders of this opposition,
and the measure upon which they finally took issue
with the King was so monstrous and indefensible
that it gives some colour to the statement that he
had lost his reason. Private war, and duelling on a
scale that closely resembled private war, had been
the curse of Madagascar, as it was once the curse
of Europe, and is now the curse of Japan. Instead
of of putting these lawless practices down with
strong handto
is
soKinge a
decree Radama
which actually
legalisedissued, or
thpermo:
posed
ahnisd polrdomoiosoehdoiiimioprgunhietsyoutgohtthe himperpeinvtaria.ototr. All
os
with-
draw or cancel it. He positively refused, and, sup-
insan"tMpeanratym),as''
p( :or
ot efidd
obnyt ta hi e gad great r
sm major o rt iht
ey
dof o
mhi
re-
jectedlion
of
thhee petitiontont
discontented
nntoehdl
nobles
y. a
Tpowerfule da el
epdu
hist
fate. The petitioners assembled at the house of the
Prime Minister, and resolvedtfo to dislodgethe
Bth o
f ma
theiryritvhaelys
night by force. During the gh
drew up, like civilised conspirators,et morningaproscription
Neat list, containing 33 names.they re-
newed their previous demands, in the form of an
gf
a vlohuer i tseasinteo atulisew epre,o pd
couldagai
nbperem
found
thet
unlotuimneldurnt,he and
pr. receiving the same answer, de-
tiounced the pros eco crf
ie
bit veh iden m
who
ageyto it the condition
persons should be
qnd ordered those
pnn,gwo,
thacidi
iedbiteth
uhio;tapilerutatiotorendreesoatnt tio.tfheti:lKeeai
given up. It is probable that Radama would now
have given way on the fist point, but he had too
much generosity to concede the second. Again
and again he insisted oa stipulating that, if they
were sarrounded, their lives a; least should be spared.
At lest it was arranged, throne: the intervention of
be Queen, that they should be confined for life in
irons. Still the palace was surrounde:l by troops,
and the populace, which had been ciamoro;as for the
blood of the prisoners, wee not yet satisfied. Jkt 10
o'clock on the morning on the 12th " it was rumouad
that the King was no more." Soon after midday a
salute of 21 guns was fired in honour of the new
Sovereign, the widowed Queen Rabodo, whose ac •
cession was duly notified to the foreign Consuls. The
time, mode, and immediate cause of the King's death
are still a mystery. A short proclamation was issued :
—" The King, inconsolable for the loss of his friends,
has perished by his own hands;" but Mr. Ellis,
the missionary, agrees with the French Consul in
stating that he was strangled by the Minister
and his accomplices. The most remarkable part of
the story remains to be told. Before the Crown was
offered to the Queen, who, to do her justice, is said
to have done all in her power to save her husband's
life, she was required to sign a paper of conditions,
amounting, as Mr. Ellis truly says, to the germ of
constitutional Government. She pledged herself not
to drink intoxicating liquors, to the use of which the
nobles attributed much of Radama's weakness and
vice, to legislate and govern in concert with the
nobles and heads of the people, to levy duties for
revenue purposes, but to encourage commerce, and to
grant liberty and protection to foreigners. The
punishment of death is to be restored, no doubt in
order to check those outrages which the late King
declined to suppress, but no one is to be put to death
on the order of the Sovereign alone. If Mr.
Ellis's extracts from this singular document may
be trusted, something very like trial by jury is to be
• adopted in Madagascar, for no person is to be sen-
tenced till he has been found guilty by " twelve
men." Absolute toleration, and full liberty of wor-
ship and teaching for native Christians, complete
a programme which would not disgrace a limited
despotism in more favoured parts of the world.
We must hope for the best, but we must not forget
that neither in the personal character of half-
civilised Monarchs, nor in the traditions or habits
of half-civilised races, have we any guarantee for
the steady maintenance of a principle, however
beneficial to themselves. At the same time, it is
impossible to deny that this coup d'etat has been
effected with a certain moderation and regard
for the stability of the Government, if not
for the lives and rights of individuals, which is
creditable to its authors. It is something that it
was not the result of mere passi n or intrigue of the
worst kind, but of a settled conviction that the
' cause of order was suffering in the hands of the
King. l'he conduct of it was more than a fantastic
burlesque of European emeutes, and the prudence
shown by the Minister in sending prompt orders for
the protection of foreigners to the Governors of the
coast is a proof that we have not to deal with reck-
less barbarians. By this time we may hope that
our neighbours have given up their whimsical no-
tion that "English influence" paved the way for the
murder of Radama. The report of the French
consul contains no trace of such an impression, and
though Mr. Ellis makes a somewhat severe allusion
to M. Lambert, the Marquis de Boissy and his
friends may rest assured that no coalition has yet
' been formed between Lords Palmerston and Russell
with the triumphant Hovah faction througl, the
medium of the Protestant missionaries

HERALD.-11 Parliament once assents to the prin-
ciple of a measure it practically hands over to the

Executive the power of carrying out that principle
in any manner and to any extent it pleases. As
soon as a sum of money is ee,:iended for any parti-
pular work it is perfectly vain to attempt to stop it.
You may show, most convincingly, I:.thr;
Ihing spent w lst,i ili thoroughly -.varied, every far
tray, that it
contribute to injure the very purpose N 9 hich the
Houszt of Commons had in view in votiOg the ex-
penditure. It dons not matter; the great eakijoritY
of the house, and the great majority of the public,
too, shudder at the thought of admitting -it-at an
expenditure has been useless, and of, as they con-
ider, making it so. They will throw good moves, v
!after bad ; they will not acknowledge a mistake, an'a.
put an end at once to a bad speculation ; they insist:
on making something of it, and are satisfied, in the,
tong run, to have a work worth, say, a thousand
pounds, if a hundred thousand are expended every
year to keep it up, to show for a million they have
expended. So the Fortifications Bill was real. a
second time last night by an overwhelming majority.
Sir Frederic Smith gave very good reasons not only
for his amendment, but sgainst all the works for
which money is asked, but the reasons were urged in
vain. " We have bought the land," said the Govern-
ment, " we have built the foundations. The country
avill he saddled a debt to no purpose if you do
not allow us to complete them," The argument was
irresistible. Sir Frederic Smith showed that half
the money which will be needed to complete the
fortifications would, if expended upon the navy,
make the country invulnerable ; he showed that the
forts when built would cost an enormous sum to
keep them up, and when kept up at this sacrifice
would do more harm than good. The house was as
usual penny wise and pound foolish ; it could not
sacrifice the money paid for the foundation and the
premiums paid for the land, and went boldly on for
an expenditure of several millions which not a boil
believes necessary, and nine oat of ten are con•
vinced is mischievous. Another reason for the over
whelming majority which this project of the Go-
vern moat obtained is in some respects honourable to
the House of Commons. The vast majority are
anxious to see the country insured against attack ;
they are prepared in the name of their constituents,
whom they fairly represent in this matter, to incur
any expense necessary for effecting this object.
But they distrust their own judgment ; they are
unwilling either to take the trouble or incur the
responsibility of examiuing the scheme of the.
Government, and of rejecting it. The Govern-
ment, they say, is responsible. If we give what it
asks, we escape all reproach and we save ourselves
all bother. Lord Palmerston says the torts are ne-
cessary. He is at the head of the Government and
ought to know. Let us vote this money for the forts,
and if they do not answer the purpose the fault will
be his, not ours. That particular kind of reasoning
did not find expression in the debate, but it had a.
very powerful influence as well upon those who voted
as on those who stayed away. A phrase invented by
Lord Palmerston always does very effective duty
whenever the question of fortifications is reised.
Nearly twen'y years ago the noble lord, with more
levity than truth, declared that steam hadbridged the
Channel, and any time within the last five years this
" steam bridge" has formed the burden of the song
of the advocates of fortification. The public has
forgotten the reply which, as Mr. Cobden reminded
the house last night, Sir R. Peel made to this smart
saying—" There are two parties who can play at
making these steam bridges." Steam has certainly
done nothing for France which it has not done for
.England in far greater degree. If it has given her
the means of moving a large force quickly to a de-

termined point, it has given us the weans of making
a smaller force do duty over a much larger area, It
the French, encamped at Boulogne with the design
of invading England, could, thanks to steam, cross
quickly, and in the teeth of unfavourable winds,
our English Channel fleet could move with equal
speed towards the point of coast threatened, and
reinforcements from all our dockyans could gather
there. The experience of the Crimea has shown, as
Sir F. Smith observed, that it is a most difficult
thing to land a large body of men even with favour-
able weather. With that advantage it took the

allies five days to land a force upon the coast of the
Crimea, which would only land upon the English
coast, assuming the landing were unopposed, to
meet certain and immediate dastrurtion. So long as
the navy is maintained in a proper condition any
invasion of our shores is impossible. The forts are
needless to prevent invasion if a strong navy is
maintained; they are not needed if we have such a
navy to defend the dockyards, and it is very doubt-
ful whether if the defence of the dockyards is left
to them they can ensure it. It is all very well to
talk of American experiences and to quote Charles-
ton in favour of Spithead, but there is not the
slightest similarity between the two cases. The
entrance at Charleston harbour was blocked up by
obstructions of all kinds, which left the attacking
vessels marks for the guns of the forts. We, as Sir
F. Smith said, have a navy of our own, and cannot
afford to lay down torpedoes which would prevent
it from using our harbodrs. And not only will these
forts be useless, they will be serious encumbrances.
They will require so large a force to garrison them
that our army available to meet the invading force
will be reduced to a few regiments. We shall be so
occupied with the defence of Portsmouth and Ply-
mouth, ana half a dozen other places, which the
enemy would never dream of attacking, that we
shall leave him the road to London quite free.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

------

MANCHESTER-JULY 9.

At our market this morning there was a tolerable at-
tendance. Of English wheat there was a limited supply,
and can scarcely be quoted cheaper, while American met a
slow sale, at a reduction of 2d to 3d per 100 lb. Flout in
limited request, at 6d per sack and barrel unaer the rates of
last week. Oats and oatmeal, with only a moderate busi-
ness, were the turn in favour of buyers. Beans and In-
dian corn in limited requeat at late values.