The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-17 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 1854.

The cordial union of France and England has
already exercised a beneficial influence over the
Ottoman Government. His Imperial Majesty the
SULTAN has, within this present month of May,
expressly avowed his anxiety to follow out a
career of progress, and in so doing to emulate as
much as possible the proceedings of the Allied
Powers. Such, without any explicit declaration
to that effect from the lips of ABD-UL-MEDJID, is
what alone could have been predicated from the
course long pursued by the Divan. During a
considerable time past the path entered upon by
the Sublime Porte has been a path of systematic,
social, commercial, and political improvement.
This, moreover, in spite of the ever-threatening
and at last openly-declared opposition of the
Northern AUTOCRAT ; in spite of the enervating
tendencies of an Asiatic past, with all its pecu-
liarly adverse associations ; in spite of the re-
tarding effect produced upon the whole order
of things in Turkey by the domination exer-
cised over the popular mind by the eccentric
principles of Mahommedanism. In defiance of
every imaginable obstruction, however, whether
inborn, internal, or external, the Ottoman Empire
has steadily and appreciably advanced during the
last decade. Its mercantile operations have won-
derfully increased, as may be perceived at a glance
on inquiry into its imports and exports, but more
particularly on a comparison of those imports and
exports with the imports and exports of its colossal
neighbour—Russia. The progress made by Turkey,
moreover, is in no way restricted to one of a material
or industrial character. It has been one social
as well as commercial--a movement in the course
of which the whole mechanism of the state
has been beneficially affected. And this progres-
sive improvement is one which may be declared,
without exaggeration, to have commenced in ear-
nest from the day when the young Sultan-Caliph
Am:sm.-M=4in had the sword of OSMAN first
girded about his loins, namely, on the
11th of July, 1839, during the ceremony of
his imperial installation. So that it is no merely
empty vaunting when his MAJESTY avows his
wish, as he did on the Ist of May, 1854, to
follow out a career of progress—and this simply
because his desire is correctly declared to be a
-solicitude to follow out, not to enter upon, but to
follow out, a career of progress ! When the
avowal was made on the Ist inst. to the Prince
liasouto-s at Constantinople, H.I.H. must have
appreciated the integrity of the Monarch who
avowed those lofty intentions. For the
whole reign of A
BD-UL-MEDJ ID has attested
alike his extraordinary merits as a reformer, and
his magnanimity as a prince of the most generous
sentiments and of the most indisputable enlighten-
ment. It cannot very soon
be forgotten in Ire-
land with what spontaneous
munificence the
young SULTAN contributes_ towards the mitigation
of the horrors of famine
and Pestilence, when
the world became aware that the
double
scourge
was decimating that unfortunate (and,
as far as the SULTAN was concerned,
remote
and alien) population. Nor can it speedily be
lost to the memory of France how chivalrously,
even when the
poet-hero seemed to be ungrate-
fully forgotten by his own compatriots, the
Young
SULTAN proferred his tribute to the Tribune
whose sublime courage and matchless eloquence
had saved Europe itself from a deluge of blood
in the February of 1848-- hOW ABD-UL-MEDJID
displayed his sense of the glory of this august act
of civism by preventing an estate in Turkey to
ALPHONSE DE LA L* Neither can it very
quickly pass from thss remembrance of Hungary,
how nobly the young SULTAN stood between the
northern despots and tire intended victims of their
vengeance, when, in despite of the fury of both
Austrian KAISER and Russian AUTOCRAT, he grant-
ed a safe residence at Widdin to the Magyars
and Polish refugees, to Kossunl, BEM, GUYON,
FERCZEL, and DEMBINSKI. These things, we say,
scannot easily be forgotten s they are attestations
of the personal magnanimity of the Sultan, ABD-UL-
MEDjj,Th—as the social, commercial, and political
progress made by Turkey during the period of his
reign demonstrates his activity and integrity as a
terowned reformer—as the stand made by his
troops during these months which have elapsed
aince'the passage of the Pruth are tokens that his
subjects are not quite as degenerate as they were
reported to be—or as the skilful tactics which

have all along marked the movements of the chief
officers of his army evidence at once the disci-
pline of their troops and their own good general-
ship.
Everything, indeed, combines to prove that in
withstanding the lawless aggression of the Em-
peror Niosoi.As, England and France are not
the champions of a degraded race, or the defen-
ders of a besotted Sovereign. The Turks have
all this while illustrated in a remarkable manner,
again and yet again, their valour in the field and
their moderation in the council. They are not
unworthy of the support of the two great nations
of Western Europe, the recognised leaders in the
grand march of modern civilisation. And as the
Turks themselves—both soldiers and statesmen—
have shown themselves thus worthy, so also
and in a particular manner has it been
with the ruler of the Turks, the Sultan-
Caliph ABD-UL-MEDJID. The Western allies of
Turkey have no reason to be otherwise than proud
of the recent doings of the nation and the
Chief they have championed. It will
be well for all concerned in this mighty
struggle, however, if France and England
take their part in it more directly and more
vigorously than they have done hitherto, if they
act in all respects, indeed, more resolutely and
energetically—well for Turkey and for the Sultan
ABD-171.-MEDJID, well for France and for England,
well for the ulterior fate of Russia, and for the
permanent peace of entire Christendom.

Although the resolutions last night brought for-
ward by Lord BROUGHABI on the subject of taxes
on law proceedings were negatived without a divi-
sion, we have no doubt that they will receive the
calm and deliberate consideration which they so
eminently merit, and that eventually the evils
complained of will be fully redressed. The Hon.
and Learned Lord who introduced the topic must
himself have felt that, under present circum-
stances, it would be impossible to hope for imme-
diate legislation on the point. No Financial Mi-
nister would readily surrender 300,000/. and up-
wards per annum at a time when his ingenuity is
taxed to the utmost to devise new projects for
replenishing the Exchequer and enhancing the

income of_ the country to such an extent as

to provide for the necessary expenditure,
and to make both ends meet. The object
of the noble mover was, therefore, merely
to direct attention to the practical grievances
that exist, with a view to their removal in more
auspicious times. In that he has completely suc-
ceeded. No disinterested and unprejudiced per-
son who has perused his clear and able statement
will refuse his assent to the proposition, " that
all taxes on law proceedings are contrary to every
sound principle, and, of necessity, work injustice
and oppression." The propriety of exempting
County Court suitors from those oppressive and
impolitic imposts, and thus affording unrestricted

access to every person seeking justice, will be also
fully recognised. The good seed has thus been

sown, and there can be but little, if any, doubt
that it will bring forth fruit in due season.

The great majority of legal abuses, some of
which have been abolished, others materially mi-
tigated, while some still flourish in rank luxuri-
ance, have arisen from the "fee system,"
and the desire to make our legal tribunals self-
supporting institutions. From this fertile source

of evil sprung up the enormous sinecures that
disgraced the country. Many of these have been
got rid of ; but we are still paying compensation
to the quondam holders, and in some instances
will be compelled to continue these humiliating
payments to their representatives for several years
after the decease of the recipients. The law in-
deed was like a turnpike road, on which heavy
tolls were exacted at every stage of progress.
Nothing of any kind could be done without a
heavy charge either in the shape of stamp duty to
the Crown or honorarium to some surly official.
As if it were not a sufficient misfortune to be
driven to litigation in order to obtain justice, the
unfortunate suitor was forthwith victimised in
every conceivable manner, being clearly
regarded as a proper subject for extor-

tion. He was similarly circumstanced to

the unlucky traveller alluded to by Lord
BROUGHAM, who, having fallen among thieves and
been robbed of his hat and purse, was afterwards
plundered of his wig, by the " false Samaritan,"
who pretended to come to his assistance. Indeed
it but too frequently happened that it would have
been better for the injured party to have submitted
to the first loss than to have plunged deeper in
the mire in looking for a legal remedy—the fees
and stamp duties completing the ruin which the
dishonesty or insolvency of the debtor had com-
menced.

When the County Courts were first introduced,
we, while expressing our unequivocal satisfaction
at the prospect of " cheap and expeditious justice"
thereby afforded, earnestly protested against the
introduction of the " fee system" therein. If, as
it is now universally admitted, " if it be the first
duty of every State to supply the means
1 for the administration of justice," and that " these
i means should, in the first instance, at least,
be by the country at large, and not by the suitor,"
there can be no possible argument in favour of
heaping impediments and obstructions that must
prove insuperable to the great majority of suitors
at the very threshold of the Temple of Themis.
Tile evils which we predicted, and which might
then so easily have been averted, are now patent
to the world. Lord BROUGHAM has lifted the
flimsy veil by which they were involved in a
icloud of mystery. He has shown that so far
from the County Courts being subservient to
cheap " justice," they are really more expensive,
so far as Court fees and other exactions are con-
cerned, than their three great rivals—and that
it is at Westminster, that the " real cheap shops"
are only to be found. This is perfectly clear when
we consider the unquestionable facts stated by the
Noble Lord, that the total amount of fees on
law taxes levied on the suitors of the County
Courts for the years 1851, 1852, amount on
an average to 261,0001. per annum, while those
charged in the superior Courts of Common Law
for the same period little, if at all, exceed 50,000/.
per annum ; and that in the County Courts they
amounted, during the above-mentioned years, on
a fair average, to 171 per cent. on the sums claimed,
and to 301 per cent. for the sums recovered I
The only ground of defence set up by Lord
CRANWORTH, who admitted the general principles
laid down by the great legal reformer, was, that
"the Defendant who wrongfully withheld that to
which the Plaintiff was entitled, or the Plaintiff
who had wrongfully demanded that to which he
had no just claim, should be required to contri-
bute to the maintenance of the judicial system !"
It, however, appears that, in two-thirds, or
66 per cent., of the cases, the burden
falls on innocent parties. " The saddle
is placed on the wrong horse." It also ap-
pears that these fees are as heavy in an unde-
fended action as in one contested to the very
utmost. It therefore follows that the penalty
falls as heavily on mere poverty as on an uncon-
scientious refusal to do what is right and proper.
And it must be admitted that a pecuniary penalty,
"in the nature of a fine," as the Lord Chancellor
declares, is a very inappropriate punishment for
poverty ! We must submit to the grievance at
present. The nuisance must remain unabated.
But surely such iniquiries may be instituted and
proceedings taken as will pave the way for a com-
plete measure of reform whenever circumstances
will admit.

On Friday night Government sustained another
defeat. Had it been on a question of Eastern
policy, or the mode of providing the sinews of
war, we might perhaps have had little to reo-ret
but the rejection, though by only a majorityof
nine,
of the Scotch Education Bill is a more serious
affair. It must act as a great discouragement to
any future attempt 'on the part of Government to
take up the Education Question. Religious anti-
pathies, it is most painful to believe, will obstruct
for ever the best intentions of our statesmen. We
wish we could dignify these antipathies with the
name of religious principles. No doubt the
churches think their objections worthy of
that name ; but, as in most other quarrels,
so in this, few impartial bystanders can fail

to perceive that the opposition to the Go-
vernment measure had in it much more of the
odium theologicum than sense of duty to the na-
tion. The Voluntaries, by uniting their votes,
for reasons, however, the most dissimilar, with
the Old Scotch Church, turned the scale against
Government, and extreme Dissenters were thus
found voting in favour of retaining religious
tests, and upholding the exclusive powers of
an Establishment they have been long labouring
to overthrow. We generally respect most sin-
cerely the consistency of these gentlemen. They
refuse to support any extension of the Establish-
ment principle, and they carry it out so far as to
oppose Government grants in aid of religious
teaching in schools. In the present case, however,
even on their own ground, it would seem that
they might have supported the bill, since it secu-
larised the greater part of the instruction, making
religious teaching the business of a few special
hours, and it entirely took from the Establishment
which they oppose the power of exclusive super-
intendence of the schools. In voting in favour
of the bill they might well have maintainedthat the
balance of its results would have been immensely
in favour of Religious Liberty ; and we must do the
Government the justice to say, that on that foun-
dation the provisions of the bill were honestly
grounded ; indeed, the Voluntaries might have
learned from the unworthy opposition raised by
the old Scotch Kirk that they were taking a
suicidal course in defeating the Government.
The old Kirk were, however, the strength of
the opposition to the bill, and we must think
most unfairly. They had in the religious census
but thirty-two per cent. of the worshippers, while
other Presbyterians, not to mention several minor
denominations, amounted to fifty per cent. of the
same. It must really be difficult for the most de-
termined advocate of establishments to show how the
mere difference of receiving a state provision could
qualify them to manage schools and choose school-
masters, much better than the great majority of
their brother Presbyterians who are unendowed.
Indeed, we on this side the Tweed are apt to give
the credit for Presbyterian zeal to that great ma-
jority of the people of Scotland which prefers pay-
ing for its own religious services to admitting the
slightest measure of Government control. What
harm could have accrued to the interests of reli-
gion from placing such a body of people in educa-
tional matters on an equal footing with the old
Church, it is really impossible to imagine. With
the abolition of the tests to be signed by
the schoolmaster, the Attorney-General did,
indeed, as he stated, find it difficult to
devise any formal guarantee for his reli-
gious character. Tests are surely a very poor one ;
no one could rely on them except as a means of
excluding really religious persons who have con-
science enough not to sign a document, re-
specting any sentence of which they may
happen to have doubt about ; but surely it
is a libel on the gentlemen and ministers who
would have composed the proposed boards for
local superintendence to assume that they would
have chosen schoolmasters incompetent to teach
to children the elements of religion, and Scotch
schoolmasters too. Even the all-important cause
of Presbyterianism must have been quite safe in
Scotland ; for with not less than 84 per cent, of
the worshippers, if polemics were in vogue, they
could, of course easily, have chosen every teacher
throughout the land .
As we have already observed, however, our
chief regret is that the cause of national education
has received a serious check. Scotland is just
that part of the kingdom where all the population
hold nearly the same religious opinions, and where
education is a tradition and heirloom of the nation.
If even there, the mere fact that a large minority
of a creed is endowed, and a large majority of the
same creed unendowed, raises up 'sufficient eccle-
siastical bitterness to defeat an object they
all wish attained, what hope can there be
for England and Wales ? If Government drops
the question, henceforth none can blame them
for doing so, but those who have compelled
them to do it have taken a grave responsibility
upon themselves, and must be expected to perform
that themselves which they would let no one else
do. It was a shrewd remark of Mr. COBDEN'S,
while, as an advocate of secular education, giving
his support to the bill, that the Government,
while professing to include religion, in reality
carried out the views of the seculars ; since, by
the provisions of this very bill, they avowedly
separated the secular from the religious instruc-
tion. The only wonder is that sensible people
can be imposed on by mere words to think that
impossible which is, in paint of fact, the practice
of every good school in the kingdom.

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester has
rallied. Her Majesty and the other members of the
Royal Family are the Duchess's daily visitants.
DINNER AT THE MANSION-HOUSE.--Last night, ac-
cording to annual custom, the Lord Mayor entertained
her Majesty's judges at the Mansion-house. A magnifi-
cent entertainment was provided on the occasion by
Messrs. Staples, of the Albion Tavern, and the company
invited comprised a large number of distinguished
names. The loving cup was sent round with the cus-
tomary formality, and, after the loyal toasts had been
disposed of, the Lord Mayor proposed "Thl Church,"
which was acknowledged by the Archbishop of Canter-
bury. His Lordship then gave " The Health of the
Judges." Lord Campbell responded in graceful terms,
and, alluding to the recent report of the Royal Com-
missioners, eulogised the services which had at dif-
ferent periods in our history been rendered to the
cause of constitutional liberty by the Corporation
of the city of London. England, he said, would
not be England without the Lord Mayor. He
loved the Lord Mayor's Day and the Lord Mayor's
Show, and he expressed a hope that, in discharging
the duties of the Bench, the judges might not, accord-
ing to the recommendation of the commissioners, be
disseverated from the chief magistrate and aldermen of
the city. The Marquis of Camden responded to the
toast of " The House of Lords," and Sir John Poking-
ton to that of "Toe House of Commons." Vice-Chan-
cellor Sir John Stuart proposed " The English Bar,"
bearing high testimony to the talents, the worth, and
the honour of its members. Sir F. Thesiger acknow-
ledged the toast in animated terms. A number of other
toasts were given during the evening, including the
" Army and Navy," to which General Sir G. H.
Berkeley responded, "The Health of the Lady
Mayoress," by the Bishop of Oxford, and "Pros-
perity to our Eastern Possessions," which Major Oli-
phant acknowledged. The large number of guests
who appeared in official costume, and the many
ladies present, imparted a very gay appearance to the
banquet, which passed off with unusual éclat,
THE_CHARTERED BANK Or INDIA, AUSTRALIA, AND
CHINA.—The committee appointed by the dissentient
shareholders of this bank, for the purpose of resisting
the attempt of the directors to proceed with that under-
taking, against the expressed wish of a large majority
of their constituents, have notified that the Lord Chan-
cellor has appointed Thursday next to hear the appeal
for an injunction.

THE BANH OF AUSTRALASIA.—According to intelli-
gence by the Marco Polo, the Bank of Australasia have
purchased an acre of land from the Australian Agricul-
tural Company at Newcastle, for which they have given
1,5001., for the purpose of establishing a branch bank.
NEW FRANKFORT BANK.—The statutes of the new
Frankfort Bauk have recently been published. From
these it appears that the establishment is bound to com-
mence business on or before the 6th of next September.
Its capital is to consist of about 1,700,0001., in 40,000
shares of 500 gulden (41/. 13s. 4d.) each, of which one-
half only are put forth in the first instance. It will be a
bank of issue, discount, and deposit, and is empowered to
lend money to the extent of two-thirds or four-fifths of
their current value on gold and silver bars, foreign bills,
real estate in Frankfort, dock warrants, and all stocks
and shares which enjoy a concession from a German
Government. It may deal in bullion and foreign bills,
but not in stocks, shares, or estates, and its note
circulation is to be regulated by the amount of its
paid-up capital. Upon the first 400,0001. being paid up,
paper may be issued to the amount of 800,0001., and
the subsequent issues are to be equal to any additional
payments that may be made. Against all its notes the
bank must hold one third in bullion and the rest in bills
or stocks. It will transact, likewise, every ordinary
kind of banking business, but for the Frankfort Govern.
ment it is to make all payments and receipts free of
charge.
FIRE AT LIIIEEIOUSE.—Between two and three o'clock
yesterday morning a destructive fire occurred at the ex-
tensive establishment of Messrs. Dunbar and Sons, ship-
owners, Fore-street, Lime-house, which raged fiercely
for nearly two hours, destroying much property. It ori-
ginated, by some means at present not ascertained, in
the loft of one of the warehouses, a building 160 feet
long and three storeys high, where several hundred loads
of compressed straw was deposited, and its existence was
not known until the whole was in flames. A number
of the brigade engines and firemen were called out to it
by the light it created, but on their arrival were unable
to render much assistance, owing to their not being
water sufficient to keep the engines at full action. How-
ever, by great exertion, the fire was prevented from ex-
tending beyond the warehouse where it commenced, the
most part of which was destroyed. The warehouse and
its contents were insured in the Phceuix and Imperial
Fire-offices.

THE CROPS.—Most of our provincial exchanges give
highly favourable accounts of the beneficial effect of the
recent copious showers on the wheat and other crops.