The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-04 00:00:00

WISH WATIR AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW.
46 minutes after 41 Evening

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VDINBURGH REVIEW, No. CXXXIX.
Advertisements for this :forthcoming Number are re-
tested to be sent to the Publishers on or before Monday.
larch 18, and Bills on or before Wednesday, March 20.
39, Paternoster-row, March, 4, 1839.

THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT GARDEN.
THIS EVENING, MARCH 4,
Will be performed,
JANE SHORE.
!lichard, Duke of Glo'ster, Mr. Vandenhoff; Lord Hastings,
Mr. Elton ; Dumont, Mr. Phelps ; Jane Shore, Miss Helen
Faucit ; Alicia, Mrs. Warner.
After which,
THE KING AND THE DUKE.
To conclude with
THE OMNIBUS.
Tuesday, The Lady of Lyons, with Katharine and Petruchio,
and High Life Below Stairs.

-`)P4'?? 16Iwr. , ,
r.ir w.tot
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ann.

LONDON :
MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1839.
EVENING EDITION.

The Report of the Commissioners on Railroads
for Ireland, has given rise to a question of the
greatest importance to the community ; and we have
little doubt that not only the Government, but par-
ties prejudiced in favour of entrusting such under-
takings to individual enterprise, will soon be con-
vinced of the great error committed in leaving this
question so long undecided. Ai it is, there is but
one opinion as to the mischievous effects that have
been already produced by what may be called the
voluntary principle. It has led to enormous out-
I lay at the expense of the public, and to the great
detriment of the projectors themselves, and deprived
the Government of that control which it ought to
have over a system which is making the most im-
portant changes in the trade, commerce, and pro-
perty of the kingdom. It is, indeed, melancholy
to look back on the millions that have been need-
lessly squandered in contesting different lines, in
bribing interested parties, and in carrying Bills
•_hrough Parliament, that ought to have cost the
country nothing. We believe we are near the truth
in stating that one-half of the money expended on
these purely national undertakings, might have been
saved had our Government, like all the Govern-
ments on the Continent, adopted the system which
they now propose for Ireland. There never was a
more erroneous doctrine than the doctrine that pri-
vate individuals, and more especially public com-
panies, are the best judges of the expediency of any
undertaking. The bridges built over the Thames
on the voluntary principle, and the ruin entailed by
th 2 countless companies of 1825, prove the very
reverse. In fact, of all modes of carrying into
effect great undertakings, this is the most expen-
sive, and that the holders of Railway Shares find to
their cost. Had the great road that now intersects the
country, been formed on principles like those laid
down for Ireland, had a Commission of disinterested
persons been appointed to value the land, and the Le-
gislature determined the line, and thereby prevented
private individualsfrom robbing the public, in a thou-
sand ways, the cost of travelling would not have
amounted to one-half of what the companies are
now compelled to demand. Even in theory this ap-
pears incontrovertible, and we have pressed it on
the Government for the last seven or eight years,
but we trust not to theory alone. Practice has
verified the prediction. In Belgium, where the
system has been adopted, the success has even ex-
ceeded expectation. According to an intelligent
traveller, Mr. CHAMBERS, the length of line
now in operation in that country, amounts to 157
English miles, the expense incurred (and land
there is about as valuable as in England) is only
about 6,2501. per mile, the fares are exceedingly
moderate, and such has been the concourse of pas-
sengers that already the first executed lines have
nearly repaid all the outlay. In England, even
with the utmost economy on the part of the Di-
rectors, the vast expense so needlessly incurred
must keep up the fares, check communication, and
in the end lead to new rival lines.

Sir ROBERT PEEL, it appears, called his refrac-
tory squad together on Saturday, and lectured them
on their want of discipline and disobedience in the
House of Commons on Friday evening. It certainly
was inexcusable in the hungry troops just as victory
appeared to be hovering over their camp to scare
her away by the exhibition of bigotry more in-
flamed than ever, and intolerance become absolute
rancour. The country will never be content to place
confidence in such a divided, rapacious, or virulent
crew. They even broke a compact which their
leaders had made, out of mere hatred to the bulk
of their fellow-citizens. Sir ROBERT appears
tame, plausible, and friendly enough, but when
he cannot restrain his troops now, what will
he be able to do when they are flushed
with victory. The country is in a hopeful state, it
has lost, we regret to say, its confidence in the
Whigs, and the exhibition of Friday has convinced
it that the Orange Tories are more savage than
ever, and must be kept in strict restraint, or they
win glut themselves with blood.

We are glad to learn that Mr. VILLIERS iS to
bring forward a motion in the House of Commons,
we believe, on the 14th instant, for the total repc al
of the Corn-laws. The motion for an inqu.ry
into the allegations of the petition of the Ma 1-
ehester manufacturers was necessarily and proper'y
confined to their statements, and did not go o
the whole subject. Only one branch of the guy
tion has as yet been adverted to, and when the
whole question is brought forward we shall I
anxious to know what the Saintly party in the Hot: e
or Commons, the PLUMPTRES, the INGLISES,
ESTCOURTs, the GOULBURNS, and others, vi
say in support of a law which fills the hospiu
with disease and the gaols with criminals, ancl
which starves multitudes of human beings out c,f
existence. if they wish to see the cause whir h
they so zealously espouse made loathsome to the
bulk of the community they will vote for the con-
tinuance of the Devil's laws.

We are amazingly surprised that any indepen-
I dent Journal can defend Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S
conduct in relation to Mr. DUNCOMBE'S motion.
What necessity was the Noble Lord under to resist
it ? Surely when the Ministers consent to make
the Corn-laws, which touch the safety of the em-
pire and the character of the Legislature, an open
question; they might with propriety have left
the performances in the Theatres on Wednesday and
Friday in Lent to be decided by the good sense of
the House of Commons. It was puerile in the
Noble Lord, it was unworthy of any Minister, it
was especially unworthy of Lord JOHN RUSSELL
and the Whigs, in the present state of parties, to
take the side he did. He resisted his own friends
to oblige the most arrogant Churchman, one of
the most violent enemies of the popular party, in the
empire. It was enough to have ruined a Minister
of 'far higher popularity and character than ever
Lord JOHN RUSSELL has acquired.

We refer our readers to an extract from the
Guiana Chronicle of the 16th of January, for a
fine sample of Colonial Legislation. It appears
from that Paper that Mr. HOLMES (better known
under the familiar designation of " BILLY HOLMES,
the Tory whipper-in") was appointed by a faction
"Agent" for the Colony during the administration
nf its affairs by Col. BUNBURY, who obtained an
unenviable colonial celebrity, in consequence of
a dispute with the Chief Justice of St. Lucia—the
particulars of which are not yet quite forgotten in
England. It appears from the Guiana journal
now before us that the appointment of Colonial
Agent is likely to be confirmed, unless the
authorities in Downing-street put their veto upon
it, by instructing their representative in the
Colony to act upon liberal principles instead of
Yielding to a faction which has always been and
ever will be the enemy of freedom, Passing from
Guiana to Demerara, we find every day's experience
proving that that Colony is gradually relapsing
Into the state of wretchedness in which the
latelamented Governor Sir .I.4.ugs CARMI-
cHAE L SMYTH found it. Under the e ^llent
administration of that able and efficient representa-
hve of the Crown, improvements Were everywhere
discernible ; but a few months have .served to class

them in the record of things past. The good Govern-
ment of our Colonies, under every administration,
seems to be simply a matter ofchance—if, indeed, there
be such a thing as chance recognised in the world.
Young men are to be provided for—troublesome
old men are to be got out of the way, and as a
matter of course, the Minister of the day looks to
the Colonies for places of honourable exile. It
sometimes happens—as in the case of the appoint-
ment of BILLY HOLMES to a Colonial agency—

that the consequences of a bad Colonial choice at
first, re-act upon the Government at home. For is
is it to be supposed that, had the Government exer-
cised a due degree of care previously, that the Legis-
lature of Guiana, or any portion of it, would select the
Hon. Whipper-in of the Tories as Agent for that
Colony, with a salary of 1,5001. a-year ? And
what are to be his duties, if his appointment be
confirmed ? Why, to rail in the House of Com-
mons against the Emancipation Act, now that

the Planters have pocketed the twenty mil-
lions so generously granted by the British
people for the eradication of slavery. Colonial
agents are in five cases out of six the agents of Co-
lonial factions and not of the mass of the people.
Have we not seen this in the case of the Canadas?
Have we not witnessed it again and again is the
case of Jamaica ? And is it not plain from the
Report alluded to that the case of Guiana is not an
exception ?

We have inserted elsewhere a Letter from the
Committee of the Church-rate Abolition Society,
in answer to the charges brought against them by
Mr. BESLEY, their former associate.

We call the attention of our readers, and particu-
larly those of the metropolis, to the proceedings which
took place at the Court of Common Council on
Thursday. Since the Lo RD MAYOR hasbeen in office,
he has been annoyed by anonymous slanderers, at-
tacked by certain portions of the provincial press,
and even abused for his ignorance by the Marquis
of LONDONDERRY, because he has shown him-
self the friend of the poor, and the determined
enemy of a monopoly which costs the inhabitants of
London a million and-a-half year. The most vio-
lent attack, however, remained to be made, and that
too, by a member of the Common Council, not in
open Court, but in a letter in reply to a polite
communication from the LORD MAYOR, request-
ing this gentleman's company to dinner. The
letter speaks for itself. It seemed to excite the in-
dignation of every person in Court, excepting Mr.
WIRE, who was once a Reformer, but who ap-
pears now the chosen advocate of abuses, and the
abettor of a combination which not only the LORD
MAYOR, but Mr. GALLOWAY, Mr. ANDERTON,
and other disinterested Reformers, have justly de-
nounced as a most injurious conspiracy. We wish
Mr. WIRE joy of his cause and of his client.
When two persons debate a question, the on-looker
always comes to the conclusion that the man who
gets into a violent passion has the worst of the ar-
gument. The truth of this is so generally admitted
that it has become a proverb, and any one who con-
trasts the calm and firm conduct of the LORD
MAYOR with the raving madness of Mr. POTTER
(for that is the coal-factor's name will have no hesita-
tion in admitting that the proverb never was more
remarkably verified. A Committee has been ap-
pointed to take the scurrilous letter into considera-
tion, and we have little doubt that the Common
Council will vindicate their own dignity, as well as
the dignity of the Chief Magistrate, by visiting the
author with the highest punishment they can inflict.
If Mr. WIRE, after making use of the expressions
attributed to him, does not bring forward a motion
relative to the course pursued by the LORD
MAYOR, and we believe he will not, the public
may judge what a bad cause that must be which a
City Attorney cannot defend.

We received, last night, Brussels papers of
the Ist inst., from which highly important ex-
tracts will be found in our columns of this day.
The Central Section, which represents the
whole Chamber of Deputies, has solemnly re-
solved that the King has not only the power to
sign the treaty with Holland, but that his Majesty
is justified by a proper regard to the interests of
his subjects in adopting such a measure. Agreeably
to the constitution of the Chambers, some forms re-
main to be gone through, but henceforth we may
regard the question as virtually settled. The arrest
of the few malcontents who are endeavouring to
embroil their country in a war with all Europe,
was regarded as an act of necessary firmness by the
people of Brussels.

The Paris Papers of Friday and Saturday have
all been received. They are filled with rumours
respecting the elections ; but as the result will be
known in the course of a few days, it would be idle
on the part of Foreign Journals to anticipate facts
by mere speculations. The election commenced
on Saturday, and on Friday the Debats came
out with a long article, in which it implored the
electors to support the Government candidates as
the representatives of peace, order, and the Char-
ter. The Courrier Francais preached a different
doctrine, and in a strain not unworthy of one of the
most respectable organs of the Opposition. We
quote an extract from it :
'• It is pretended that the resistance of the Opposition
will go beyond the Ministry ; but this is an interested ca-
lumny. If the Crown be compromised in the present
struggle, it is compromised by the Ministry alone.
When we say that the Ministry exposes Royalty, tole-
rates the personal intervention of the Sovereign and
the Princes in public affairs, and perverts the national
institutions for the benefit of the Royal prerogative,
we accuse not the Crown but Ministers, who are
responsible even fur the errors of the Royal power. The
evacuation of Ancona, the abandonment of Spain and
Belgium, the hostile measures at one moment adopted
against Switzerland all these grievances, serious in
themselves, but which are of secondary importance when
considered in a political point of view, are not the causes
which have united the most diversified opinions against
the: Cabinet of the 15th of April. Resistance is offered
to it, because it is in itself a serious infringement upon
the national institutions—because it has not sprung from the
majority, and cannot command a majority—because it repre-
sents itself as the organ of an immutable system, and converts
fre Royal prerogative into a sort of despotism to be imposed
on the Chambers, the electors, and the country. Resist-
ance is offered to it, because, in giving a false direction to
the government, it places Royalty in danger—because it
corrupts at once liberty and power—because it is the organ
and instrument of the Court. The system of the 15th of
April is the Government of the Court, and this system is
energetically repelled by the Opposition, which thinks that
the ejectors have a right to assert their opinions, that the
country is in a majority, and that the majority ought to
govern."
There has been recently a decided movement
among the shopocracy, in favour of Ministers.
This class of electors has the greatest abhorrence
of war ; and its members being in a thriving con-
dition the they cannot perceive the want of
a change of system, The Ministerial organs have
so worked upon their fears, that they are now among
the surest defenders of the MoLg Cabinet.

The following extracts from the Journals, include
all the news contained in them of any interest to
English readers. The Prince pE JOINVILLE
landed at Brest from Mexico on the :,2.6th ult., and
proceeded immediately to Paris. The Duke of
ORLEANS set out to meet him on Thursday.
The Phare de Bayonne of the 26th has the following
passage :—lt is reported in some circles at Madrid, that
the prorogation of the Cortex has no other object than to
terminate the negotiations relative to the treaty which has
been spoken of for this last month, and by which it is said
the English will be allowed the free importation
of their cotton manufactures into Spain. It is added
that in exchange for this concession, an advance
of money, to which the name of a loan is given, will be
made to the Spanish Government. According to the
current reports, 20 millions of reels aro to be immediately
paid into the Treasury, and 15 millions more added under the
name of interest of this loan as it is called. Though the
execution of such a project would be calculated to consum-
mate the ruin of the Spanish manufacturers, the penury of
the Treasury is so great, and its wants so urgent, that we
must expect to see it carried into effect very shortly...-.
.T. e Commerce.
soußs....r. —PLUS, SATURDAY, MARCH 2.
First Highest Lowest Last.
Price. Price. Price. Price.
French 5 per Cents llO 95 ... 111 10 „. 110 95 ... 111 10
3per Cents 79 5 ... 79 40 ... 79 .„ 79 49
Bank of rrarice —.. ...
Latfitte Bank I,ooof.
5,001 f. sh„„ 5150 ...5195 ...513. _4195
Belgian 5 per Cents lOO% „. 100% ... 10031 ... LOON
3 per Cents ......
Bank
562 50 ... 562 50 „. 560 ... 560
S anish Ac ire 19% ... 19X .., n% ... 19%
Neapolitan
Roman ........,..

RAILWAY SHARES.
St. Germain
Versailles R. B 550 ... 560 ... 550 ... 560
Chatieroi... 450 ...459 ...400 x.. 450
Orleans • 440 ... 440 ... 440 ... 440
Strasburg to Bale 325 ... 325 ... 325 ... 323

ASPHALTES AND BITUMENS.
Polonceau 425 425 p.. 425 ... 425

We were not prepared for the unfavourable re-
sult of the negociations with Portugal upon the
Slave Question, which will be found in the Lisbon
correspondence of a Contemporary, inserted irk
a.iolher column. Our Government has now but
one course to pnrsue, if it consult its own dignity
and the rights of humanity. Having failed in ne-

gociating the observance of a just Treaty, it only
remains to enforce it at all hazards. This is the
way to bring the Portuguese Government to its
senses.

The news received this morningfrom the Spanish
frontier is not calculated to clear up the mystery
which hangs over the massacre of the Carlist
Generals. On the 26th ult. "an Order of the
Day" was published at Elisondo by command of
MAROTO, which, in the name of Don CARLOS,
continues MAR.wro in his command ; approves
of the massacre at Estella, and declares the pre-
vious decree for the outlawry of that infamous as-
sassin to be a forgery. A different version of this
affair is given in our City article, according to which
MAROTO has raised the standard of the QUEEN.
We must await further and more authentic intel-
ligence.