The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-31 00:00:00

TURKEY.

The negotiations pending between five Greek
merchants and the Porte, regarding the liquidation
of the Bank of Constantinople, having now ended,
the former have issued a circular, bearing the date
of the 10th inst., by which they inform the public
that the Government has placed the books and
funds of the bank at their disposal, and that they
will do their best to merit its confidence. They
also give the glaring fact, that the debts of the
bank, which exceeded 1,500,0001., have been re-
duced to 400,0001.

The Messrs. Alleon and Baltazzi have also, in
their turn, issued a circular thankinr, the commer-
cialr body of this city for the support it afforded
them during their administration. You may now
say that the curtain has dropped
fairly on the last
act of the famous loan and bank comedy.
Abd-el-Bader was presented to the Sultan by
Fouacl
Effendi, the Minister for Foreign Affairs,
on the 11th inst. His Majesty received him with
great distinction. As it was expected, the speeches
on both sides were. common-place concerns. The
Emir was to quit Constantinople for Broussa on the
15th. He has repeatedly manifested his disappoint-
ment at the coolness of the reception he has met
with here ; indeed, never has the apathy of the
natives been more marked, and were it not for the
originality of his costume he might have traversed
the streets unnoticed.

church was laid in the year 1839, and 8,0001. ster-
ling has been expended upon it, it is not yet
finished. Strenuous exertions are being made by
the residents to complete the structure, and it is
hoped that the Government at home will come for-
ward to their assistance. A proposal has been
made, in order to raise funds, to sell a portion of
the ground adjacent to the church, which, from its
central position, would fetch a high price ; but, as
this ground was a gift from Mehemet All to the
English community, it would be very desirable
not to be under the necessity of having recourse to
such a measure.
At a sitting of the Council-General of Finances
at Cairo it had been determined that, in con.
sequence of the pernicious effects to the Govern-
ment of Egypt of the system which has of late
years been put into practice, of European mer-
chants buying the standing crops of the cultivators
of the land, while the latter do not account for
their taxes, any European who shall in future ac-
quire produce from any person so indebted to the
Government will be subject to have his bargain de-
clared null and void, and the goods which he has
purchased confiscated.
The several European Consuls seem bent upon
opposing this measure, considering it as in opposi-
tion to free trade, which is guaranteed to all in
Egypt, and there is no doubt that, if allowed to be
carried into effect, it will lead to many abuses and
encroachments on the part of the Government.
The prosperity of Egypt has been steadily increas-
ing under the benefits of free trade, and a return
to monopolies would undoubtedly check it. The
revenue of the country this year has been greatly
enhanced by the high prices obtained for all grain
and pulse.
Vessels are very much wanted, and freights are
still on the rise.

EGYPT.
The body of Mr. G. li. Fraser, the young cadet,
who was one of the overland passengers by the last
mail to India, and who was drowned in the Nile
by falling from the deck of the steamer, was found
in the river a little above Atfeh on the 14th inst.,
ti 4, 1-aai)rought down to Alexandria, where he was
.7747 T, 84 in the English burial-ground.
6eting of the English residents has been held
sg) "nto consideration the affairs of the Eng-
, t. oh now in course of construction in Alex-
Though the foundation-stone of this

7.ct4.e.

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 31, 1853.

without one solitary exception, to eclipse altogether
in splendour the pride of that sumptuous
ceremonial. Even the frivolous will turn, we
doubt not, from the dazzling record of the jewels
worn by her Imperial MAJESTY—the parure of
white pearls and rubies of b. beautiful design, con-
sisting of a small covered crown placed on the
back of the head, and of bracelets and a necklace
with pearls pendant, together with a diamond
tiara of surpassing magnificence—to that letter
written by her previously in her maiden name as
the Countess of TEBA, and addressed to the Pre-
fect of the Seine—the letter requesting that the
sum of 600,000 francs voted by the Municipal
Council of Paris for the purchase of a diamond
necklace, to be presented to the EMPRESS should,
instead of being so applied, be dedicated for the
good of the suffering classes, to purposes of cha-
rity. The manner in which this request is made
to the chief magistrate of the French capital,
might almost have induced us, without regard to
dates, to look towards the close of the epistle for
the signature of JOSEPHINE. But instead of that
signature, we have the autograph of her congenial
successor the Empress EUG&NIE. After gracefully
addressing the Prefect of the Seine in those words—
" I feel deeply the generous decision come to by
the Municipal Council of Paris, which thus mani-
fests its sympathetic adhesion to the union which
the EMPEROR contracts," EUGENIE adds—" I ,
nevertheless experience a
painful feeling at think-
ing that the first public acts attached to my name
at the moment of my marriage should be a con-
siderable expense for the city. of Paris." Upon
which the bride elect offers the suggestion already
mentioned, adding—" My desire is that my mar-
riage shall not be the occasion of any
fresh charge to the country to which I
henceforth belong ; and the only thing
of which I am ambitious is to share with
the EmPEtoEcthe love aird esteem of the French
people." Thereupon it appears that in conformity
with those benevolent intentions, and " deeply
affected by the sentiments expressed" by the
choice of the third NAPOLEON, the Council decided
unanimouslt that the 600,000 f. which it had de-
voted to the purchase of jewellery for the EM-
PRESS should be employed in founding an esta-
blishment (bearing the name and under the
patronage of her Imperial MAJESTY) in which poor
girls shall be maintained until they can be suitably
placed, after receiving a professional education.
Such are a few among the interesting circum-

stances inaugurating the reign of NAPOLEON and
EUGENIE. No incident has so beneficially affected
the public mind of England in regard to the
French Emperor as that of his recent marriage.
A chord of sympathy has been struck in the
hearts of our countrymen by that contempt for
traditional interests when contrasted with the
simple dictates of affection. It is well. .Pre-
cisely at this moment, moreover, is it that some
of the most liberal-minded men in England, some
of the most popular of our representatives,
some of our most keen-sighted and independent
statesmen have insisted upon the insensate folly
of those who have been long endeavouring to foster
ill-will between France and England, apparently
with the evil hope of ultimately embroiling them
in another contest. To dissipate, these atrocious
tendencies, the Peace Congress is beginning
really to do some good service to the population.
It is submitting the records of modern history to
the calm and impartial scrutiny of the multitude. It
is proclaiming the infamy of that last war of 22 years
against France, under the Republic and the Great
NAPOLEON—a war in which, from the beginning
to the end, England has the infamy of having been
the aggressor. As Mr. CoEDEN has reminded his
fellow-citizens, they have as a nation really some-
thing to expiate in regard to their former most
criminal attacks against their French neighbours.
How we can best expiate our past conduct in this
particular, it requires no very great shrewdness to
perceive—namely, by ourselves inaugurating at
last an era of conciliation.

The very clear and convincing judgment pro-
nounced on Wednesday by Lord CAMPBELL, in
discharging the rule for a liew trial, in the case
of the QUEEN V. NEWMAN, and unanimously as-
sented to by his judicial brethren, affords the
strongest illustration of the practical operation of
the law of libel, and the serious defects still
existing notwithstanding the great improvements
introduced under the auspices of the Noble and
Learned LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, and embodied in
the 6th and 7th Vic., c. 96, commonly called Lord
CAMPBELL'S Act. From that judgment, it now
appears that even if the Jury had, credited every
witness for the defence, if they believed that Dr.
AcHILLI had been guilty of the gross and habitual
profligacy laid to his charge, it still would have
been their duty to have convicted the defendant—
whereby the prosecutor would have become entitled
ex debito justitice, as a matter of right, to recover
from the defendant the costs of the protract-
ed and enormously expensive investigation.
iTnhfeavour of
verdict
might have been substantially
the defendant, but in point of form
it must necessarily have been given against him,
carrying with it a ruinous pecuniary liability.
We do not wish to be understood as expressing
any opinion for or against Dr. ACHILL'. The
public have had the evidence fully and distinctly
placed before them, and can judge for themselves
whether the Reverend Gentleman was a person of
unblemished character, of pure and unimpeach-
able morality as asserted ; or whether, on the
other hand, there was any and what foundation
for the charges respecting ELENA VALENTE MARIA
PRINCIPE, and the wives of GARAMONI the
tailor, and of CORIBONI the chorus singer ; and
of the English servants, HARRIET HARRIS, JANE
LEGGE, SARAH WOOD, and CATHERINE GORMAN.
Our only object is to point out the great practical
injustice that may be inflicted under the existing
enactments, and to demand an adequate remedy at
the hands ofthe Legislature. The tendency of recent
legislation has been to obtain judgment in accord-
ance with the substantial *merits of every case. For
this purpose special demurrers have been abolished,
and substance is looked to rather than form. But
we still find that; under the libel law, the form
must prevail, and that, though the substance of
the plea be proved, the verdict must still be
against the defendant, carrying with it certain
pains and penalties from which the presiding
Judge cannot possibly relieve the sufferer. It is
true, that, in the- exercise of his discretion, he
may render the punishment merely nominal, sen-
tencing the defendant to pay as a fine the smallest
coin of the realm ; but that farthing " will carry
ccsts," and the defendant may be mulcted of
thousands of pounds sterling in consequence of a
verdict which, although essential from the techni-
calities of the case, was still contrary to the feel-
ings of the presiding Judge and Jury. Can
any person say that this is just or proper ?
or that a suitable and speedy remedy is not ur-
gently required ? We think not. All will agree
in the hardship that may be inflicted under these
provisions, and we trust that every legal reformer
will lend his strenuous assistance to abate the
nuisance. _ _ _

Let us, for example, suppose that the charge was
that a party had stolen a jar of pickles, and that
on the trial it turned out that he had merely pur-
loined a pot of French mustard or preserved meat.
There should be a verdict against the defendant,
although the gravamen of the accusation was that
he had committed a felony, and the Jury were
convinced of the fact. So far as the character of
the plaintiff was concerned, it would not be much
benefited by the discovery that it was mustard
he had stolen in place of pickles, or vice versa.
Now, if six distinct acts of felony were charged:
and only four or five established, it could not be
asserted that he had much claim on the sympa-
thies of the Court or of the community. And
yet, on the failure of proof of one out of twenty
distinct charges, though it would scarcely increase
the general condemnation,.he would be certain of
obtaining a verdict ; and if the defendant were
solvent, his full costs of the proceedings of the
charges that were established as well as of those
that failed.
In the present instance the substance of the ac-
cusation preferred against Dr. AcHIFLY was, that
he had been a man of depraved and immoral cha-
racter—who, while yet a member of the Roman
Catholic Church, had violated his vows of chastity,