The Sun.
London, England, 1838-02-13 00:00:00

been proved, everywhere follows their formation—and it
will be admitted that surely the subject is as deserving
of public attention, as party squabbles in the House
of Commons, or editorial special pleading out of it.
A short time ago, when Railways were becoming
objects of notice, Mr. POULETT THOMSON was con-
sidered their champion, and Sir R. PEEL went out
of his way to make an elaborate address in the House
of Commons on their " national and beneficial" cha-
racter. If the former were a friend to change, the
latter was not ; and thousands of individuals,
confiding in the characteristic caution of the
Right Hon. Baronet, ventured to speculate largely in
such " national and beneficial" undertakings. Rail-
ways so fostered on both sides of the House became a
rage, and during the popular mania wild schemes and
worthless schemers sprung up. The House perceiving
this, suddenly wheeled round, and threw out every
Railway Bill to which there was any plausible oppo-
sition. y Nay, more—it granted a Committee of In-
quiry into all the subscription lists to which anybody,
for any cause, chose to object. • The doings of this
Committee can only be compared to those of the Star
Chamber at home, and the Inquisition abroad.
Worthless paupers, confessedly acting from pecuniary
motives, and recently connected with swindling bubbles
themselves, were allowed to give evidence as to absent
individuals who had no notice that their characters
were to become the subjects of inquiry, and the modern
Titus Oates and his men were permitted to depose that
they, or one of them, had gone to inquire after Mr.
A. B. or C. D., and not finding him at home, had
seen a woman, whose name they did not know, in the
neighbourhood, and that this nameless woman said
that she had heard some one say that Mr. A. B. or
C. D. had been a bankrupt, or in prison. This evi-
dence, though taken by the Hon. Chairman " for as
much as it was worth," was nevertheless allowed to be
printed--the printed copies to be distributed in all
parts of the kingdom—and Mr. A. B. or C. D. found
that " his life's life was lied away" by a Parliamentary
common informer—a nameless woman, and hearsay
evidence !

This was Act the first as to Railways. Then, upon
the Reports of this Committee, came Act the second,
in the shape of the New Standing Orders, on the
baneful and sweeping tendency of which we hays
before animadverted. It was proposed by Sir JOHN'
CAMPBELL, who as a lawyer knew well the utter
worthlessness of the evidence on which these Reports
had been founded, that the Edinburgh and Glasgow
Railway, and such others as had already gone through
the ordeal of both Houses, should be exempted from
their operation ;—that those orders should not act as an
ex post facto law upon them—when up started Mr.
POULETT THOMSON, the champion, and up started
Sir ROBERT PEEL, the eulogist, of Railways, to op-
pose this palpably just and equitable proposition, and
the Attorney-General of England was compelled, as
he well said, to give way " before such an unna-
tural (he might have added, irrational) alliance."
This was Act the second.

Yesterday gave us Act the third. A Railway Bill
which had gone through Committees of both Houses,
after sittings of many days, and opposition from all
sorts of characters and causes—the avaricious land-
owner, who wished to extort an extravagant price
for his land—the titled or untitled aristocrat,
who feared that the Railway (which would give
bread to thousands) might interfere with his hunt-
ing—the unemployed engineer—the unfeed lawyer
—all had attacked it, and it come from the inquiry
scatheless ; yet, in the then temper of the House, this
would not do ; new laws must be made to which it shoud
be subjected—provided certain events took place—one
of which did take place—the natural though unexpected
termination of Parliament by the demise of the Crown !
Messrs. GREEN, PEASE, SANDFORD, &C. (Mem-
bers of as high character as any in the Honse) found
themselves compelled yesterday to declare that such
was the meaning of Parliament ; and hence the capital
cities, and four counties of Scotland, are threatened
to be deprived of their railway—property to the extent
of 850,0001. to be jeopardised—hundreds of indivi-
dnals to remain bound, who, under the faith of Parlia-
ment, entered into contracts which are still binding,
but which that very Parliament will not permit them
to fulfil ! This may be Parliamentary practice, but
we have very strong doubts whether it be British law
or British equity !

Adviccs from Madrid of the 3d instant have been
received. Accounts had reached the capital of the
fall of Morella, in Valencia, for some time besieged
by the Carlist guerillas, commanded by CABRERA.
After taking possession of the town, and committing
numberless atrocities, the rebel chieftain moved with
some heavy artillery to conduct the siege of Beni-
carlo. General ORAA was expected at Alcala de
Chisbert on the 30th ult.

The Cortes were occupied on the 3d with the pro-
ject of law for the levy of 40,000 fresh troops to put
an end to the rebellion. Notwithstanding their long
experience Spanish legislators cannot be brought to
understand that, before raising more men, it would be
proper to inquire where is the money to pay them
to come
from ? The Government has a greater army than it can
supply with food and clothing, and we really cannot
see the use of a fresh levy, unless Ministers are pre-
pared to prove that it would be beneficial to increase
the number of the disaffected. ESPARTERO'S feat
which was read to the Cortes by the
at Balinaceda has been embodied in a bombastic dis-
patch,mster on the 2d instant. Were it not that it exhibited
in so painful a light the prostrate condition of their
country, the Deputies must have roared with laughter
at the General-in-Chief's recapitulation of the
War Mi-
of victory—name!y, an old bun-carriage
ge and some am-
-ospoils
munition waggons.

We hare received the whole of the Paris
Journals
f Saturday and Sunday, in which the only subject
dwelt upon is the election of M. PASSY to the Presi-
dency, and M. Gout Nt to the Secretaryship of the
Finance Committee. It may benecessary
to a proper
appreciation of the importance of these elections on
the part of many of our readers, to
observe that the
Chamber of Deputies is divided into nine Bureaus, or
Committees, each of which elects three members to
form a grand Budget, or Financial Committee, or
Commission, as it is now
more frequently denomi-
nated. As this Commission is empowered to examine
and report upon all financial matters before they are
submitted to the Chamber, it is of the utmost moment
to the Government that its complexion should be deci-
dedly Ministerial. Now it so happens that M. PAssY
was Finance Minister when M. THIRRB, as Premier,
sanctioned the reduction of the Five per Cents.—a
scheme opposed to the views of the Court—and, what
is more significant, M. GoLIN, the Secretary of the
Commission, submitted—in the course of last week
—a plan for reducing one half per cent. the inte-
rest on this very description of Stock. Thus
the Ministers have sustained two dreadful shocks in
one week—although, in the opinion of the Govern-
ment journals, the defeat in the elections for the
Finance Commission is a mere trifle when compared
with the more serious affair of the costume. The
KING will never forgive M. TiiiElts for his speech
in favour of black coats. There is very little said
about
lesa st t a
eo uG a
t Sv pe
ra i n ; but enough is
h nm
ent would prefer
the retention of Constantine to the pacification of the
ted Africa,to
satisfy
us
Peninsula.

The question of Colonial. Slave Emancipation be-
gins to attract general attention in France. The fol-
lowing is the copy of a Bill upon the subject, brought
forward by M. FAssy, the newly elected President of
the Finance Commission :

~ Art. 1. From the date of the promulgation of the present
law, every child henceforth born in the French colonies shall
be free, whatever be the condition of its parents.
Art. 2. Children born of enslaved parents shall remain
entrusted to the care of their mothers, and an annual indemnity
of 50 francs for every child shall be allotted to the proprietors
of the mothers during the ten following years. This in-
demnity shall cease to be paid in case that the infant, by
whose birth a right to it has been given, should die before
he was ten years old.
Art. 3. Every slave shall have a right to redeem himself
at a rate fixed by judges appointed from home.
0, The indemnity due to the proprietors for the children born
of enslaved mothers, shall came by right to those of the mothers
who would redeem their liberties.
Married slaves shall not be separated in case of sale, and
husbands and wives who may wish to redeem their liberty
shall only pay two-thirds of the price fixed by the judges ; the
other third shall be paid by the state.
" Art. 4. Royal Ordinances, to ba communicated to the