The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-30 00:00:00

of the army. We shall be told again of the heinous
atrocity of seizing all the English travellers in
France on the sudden rupture of the Treaty of
Amiens, although the previous seizure of all
French merchant vessels in our ports had, in
reality, provoked that retaliation. We shall hear
again of the violation of good faith shown by the
memorable escape from Elba, although not a syl-
lable, of course, will be whispered of the previous
violation of good faith by the Councils of the
Allied Sovereigns ! No. We shall be stunned
again, and again, and again with all those dear old
fables which are the delight of Mr. LANDOR, and
the solace of Colonel MITCHELL, and the facts of
M. BOURRIENNE. In illustration of this, as it were
one of the shadows cast before by these " coming
events," we have one of those favourite crotchets
of the elder generation rejuvenated for the purpose
of convincing the public, contrary to all the state-
ments of Mr. COBDEN, that during the last pro-
longed war with France, England was not the ag-
gressor. We az e perfectly aware that the Hon.
Member for the West Riding has been charged
with something very like shuffling, in 'restricting
his argument on this point to the time of
the correspondence of our Ministers with M.
CHAUVELIN. That he did so we, for our
part, attribute solely to his wish to secure his
statements the advantages of simplicity and con-
centration. For we consider the subsequent
events of that unhappy history as no less clearly
pointing out the crime of England as the trans-
gressor, than those by which was first commenced
that odious war of coalition after coalition. Mr.
COBDEN, we repeat, is charged with evading the
real difficulties of his argument—namely, those of
its regular development. He may be goaded into
the most formidable and effectual of all replies to
the accusation—namely, into the accumulation
of proof upon proof, all leaning undeniably in the
one direction. It were very far from difficult.
If he should—why—then—Good-bye to all the
sophistries of his antagonists.

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR, MARCH 29.'

The following had the honour of dining with the
Queen yesterday :—The Duchess of Kent, the Princess
Adelaide of Hohenlohe, the Duke of Newcastle, the
Lady in Waiting to The Duchess of Kent, the Baroness
de Speth, Lieut.-Colonel F. H. and Lady Emily Sey-
mour, and Mr. Gibbs.

Her Majesty and the younger portion of the royal
children walked in the park this morning.
Prince Albert rode out on horseback this forenoon, at-
tended by Captain the Hon. Dudley de Ros.
The Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred also rode out,
attended by Mr. Gibbs.

The Duke of Newcastle left the Castle to-day for
London.

The Earl of Gran Nine has been invited, and is ex.
pected this afternoon.

Her Majesty will hold a Privy Council on Friday next,
the Ist April, at Buckingham Palace. Summonses were
issued yesterday to the Ministers and Officers of State.
Earl Granville, Lord President, left town yesterday
afternoon for Windsor Castle.

The Chatcellor of the Exchequer and Mrs. Gladstone
left town yesterday on a visit to the Right Hon. Sidney
and Mrs. Herbert, at Wilton House, Wilts.
The Duke of Newcastle arrived in town yesterday
afternoon from Windsor Castle.

Dispatches were received iesterday at the Colonial-
office from the Governors of Canada, New Brunswick,
and Nova Scotia.

The Council of Education will meet at the Privy
Council-office, on Saturday, the 2nd, at half-past twelve
o'clock.

PRICE OF GOLD.—The quotation of gold at Paris is
about at par (according to the last tariff), which, at the
English Mint price of 31. 17s. 10d. per ounce for
standard gold, gives an exchange of 25.17 ; and, the ex-
change at Paris on London at short being 25.071, it
follows that gold is about 0.38 per cent. dearer in Paris
than in London. By advices from Hamburgh the price
of gold is 429 per mark, which, at the English Mint
price of 31. 17s. 104 d. per ounce for standard gold,
gives an exchange of 13.7 ; and, the exchange at Ham-
burgh on London at short being 13.61, it follows that
gold is 0.35 per cent. dearer in Hamburgh than in
Landon.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE IMPROVEMENTS.— The extensive
works which have been going on for some time past at
the rear of Buckingham Palace, Arabella-row, Pimlico,
have so far progressed towards completion, that the
whole of the massive scaffolding erected for the purpose,
with the exception of a small portion on the western
side, has becu entirely removed, and this is also in course
of being cleared away, as the new building, so far as the
outer portion is concerned, is entirely finished. Two
handsome entrance lodges have been built separate, for
the convenience of ingress and egress to this new portion
of the palace, and the whole will decidedly improve the
appearance of the building as well as add to the internal
comfort of the illustrious occupants.
We understand that it is in contemplation to get up
a show of Cochin-China and other poultry at the Royal
Surrey Zoological Gardens. A Letter place cannot be
selected; and, from the spirit and liberality of the pro-
prietors associated with the various breeders, whose
names we have heard mentioned, we have little doubt
of its proving eminently successful.

THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY.-It is stated, in the
West-end, that the Conservatives are about to make
some strenuous efforts to regain the power which they
have lost ; and certainly the following circular, which
has been addressed to each of the members of the House
of Commons, who acknowledge Lord Derby as their
chief, gives countenance to the impression :—" Impor-
tant. Your attendance is particularly requested at a
meeting of the Conservative party, at the Earl of Derby's
house, in St. James's-square, on Monday, the 4th of
April, at twelve o'clock." It is to be presumed that
Lord Aberdeen, after this circular meets his eye, will
forthwith summon all the supporters of his Government
from the country to town.

ANOTHER STOPPAGE TO THE AUSTRALIAN MAILS.—
Yesterday notice was issued at the General Post-office,
St. Martin's-le-Grand, that the mails for the Cape of
Good Hope, Adelaide, Port Philip, Melbourne, Sydney,
New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land, which
should be made up and forwarded in due course on
Saturday next, the 2d proximo, would not be able to be
dispatched, in consequence of the mishaps to the Austra-
lian mail packet. The Postmaster-General is, however,
endeavouring to effect arrangements for their conveyance,
of which due notice is to be given. In the meantime
the following vessels have been taken up for the convey-
ance of ship-letter mails. The Tasmania steamer, to
sail the 20th of April from London for Melbourne and
Hobart Town ; the Osmanli steamer, on the 7th of April,
from Liverpool for the Cape de Verdlslands, St. Belena,
Cape of Good Hope, and Port Philip ; and the Argo
steamer, for Port Philip, on the 4th of May.
MYSTERIOUS AND SUDDEN DEATH.—On Sunday night
last, about half-past ten o'clock, a tall and well-dressed
young man, who was apparently enjoying the best of
health, entered a beer-house, known by the sign of the
Newcastle and Sunderland Arms, at thq corner of Glass-
house-street and Broad-street, Ratcliff. He was accom-
panied by a woman of the town. The man called for a
pint of ale, and remained in earnest conversation with
his female companion for a considerable time, when he
suddenly leant forward, and fell to the ground a lifeless
corpse. Three medical men were called in immediately,
but their skill was of no avail ' • death appeared to be
instantaneous. Mr. Pemble, the beadle and summoning
officer of the Hamlet of Ratcliff, caused the body of the
deceased to be removed to the dead-house, and forwarded
information of the occurrence to Mr. Baker, the coroner,
who, in consequence of the bad character of the beer-
house, where the death took place, ordered a post mortem,
examination of the body, previous to the inquest to be
held this day. The deceased was about 26 years of age,
his name was Brown, and he was the mate of a ship
lying in the river. A few weeks since a Captain Pen-
nington was found dead in Glasshouse-street, under the
window of the Newcastle and Sunderland Arms beer-
shop, and he had either been flung out of the bed-room
on the top of the house, or thrown himself from the
window, while labouring under delirium tremens. The
house is frequented by the worst of characters. The
matter has been taken up by the parochial authorities,
and the propriety of indicting the keeper of the house
will he discussed by the Board of Trustees of the hamlet
on Tuesday next.
FREE TRADE—GREAT BRITAIN AND FRANCE.—With
reference to an impression, derived from a recent remark
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that the free trade
negotiations between Great Britain and France had not
advanced so far as the public had been led by some
writers to believe, the Dundee Advertiser gives a state-
ment of the manner in which the linen trade has been
affected by the French tariffs. In 1830 the whole value
of linen yarns and manufactures exported to France
from Great Britain was only 11,3401. Between that
period and 1835 the duties imposed, although very high,
were not absolutely prohibitory, and the value con-
sequently advanced to 260,435/. This appears to
have been regarded with satisfaction by the French
Government, and towards the end of 1836 they
effected a great reduction of the existing duties, which
led to an increase of the trade that denoted to a re-
markable extent the eagerness of the mass of the
people to avail themselves of its benefits. From
260,4351., in 1835, the value of our linen exportations
taken by the French population steadily advanced until,
in six :ve,ars2 it was more than quadrupled—the total in
being 1,088,3181., constituting considerably more
than a third of the amount of our shipments of all kinds
to that country. The infatuated policy, however, was
then adopted by Louis Philippe of checking in this re-
spect all that had been done, and in 1842 the rates were
largely increased, and ultimately made almost prohi-
bitory. A rapid decline in the traffic thenceforth com-
menced, which seems almost to threaten its extinction
—the total in 1851 having fallen to 141,3771. These
facts, it is added, have been strongly pressed upon the
attention of the Board of Trade by the Chambers of
Commerce of Dundee, Belfast, and Leeds, with the hope
that they may be kept in view during the progress of
arrangements between the two Governments for s, freeer
commercial intercourse.—Times.